Promise of Hope
by ArikoUzumaki
Summary: As the two Keyblade wielders search the worlds for their lost friends an old evil once locked away has come to prey on the followers of the light. Promises, friendships, and trust are all tested as they race to rescue themselves from this new terror.
1. Prologue

A/N: ATTENTION READERS OF _LETTER OF HOPE!!_ Do not skip this chapter. It has been slightly revised and added onto.

If you have not yet read _Letter of Faith _please proceed to hit the back button and go read my other story first. But hey, if you want to continue reading anyway be my guest.

Hugs and kisses to all my old readers. HAPPY 2010!

* * *

Roxas lay on the grass beneath a green canopy. Above him the trees shook slightly in an unfelt breeze. Birds chirped and flew while squirrels ran along tree branches, chattering at one another. Nearby, leaves scattered as a deer ran from the clearing in the woods. It had been peaceful until a crash had brought these weird people to the forest.

"Roxas, we're in another forest." Xion lay a few feet away, watching a bird hop near her outstretched hand. It pecked at one of her fingers, and Xion giggled, causing the bird to fly away.

"I can see that. What world is this, the third?"

"Fourth. We have to go back or else the others'll track us down. And we don't want that."

"I would ask how, but I wouldn't put it past Zexion to slip something into my pack to track us." Roxas sat up, brushing leaves off his person. He stood, looking around the clearing and the peaceful forest. That is, until a shriek in the distance sent shivers up his spine and all the animals running.

"Heartless," Xion whispered, sitting up as well. Roxas held out his hand and helped her up, searching for which direction the shriek had come. Another one told him to go left, and they both took off running towards the sound.

"Hey, Roxas. Race you to the Heartless!"

"You're on!" Roxas ran even faster, trees flashing past him. This is amazing, he thought. To run like this, and through a forest! I'm surprised I haven't hit a tree yet. And that was when the sandy brown-haired boy ran into something black, and very pissed off. "Crap! Watch ou-" The Heartless sent him flying with a sweep of its huge wings. Roxas flew backwards, into the canopy, and managed to hold onto a branch some twelve feet into the air.

"Roxas!" Xion had stopped in time, and circled around, to the opposite side of the clearing. She came up behind the Heartless, now watching Roxas with hungry eyes, and slashed at it with her Keyblade.

_Oathkeeper._

Roxas climbed on top of the branch and ran to the end of it. Just as it began to bend, he jumped and landed square on the Heartless. It gave several loud yells and crashed into the surrounding trees, trying to get the boy off its back. But to no luck; Roxas was holding on tight, and gave it a one-for with his Keyblade.

_Oblivion._

"Roxas! Jump down!" A huge, gigantic tree was beginning to tilt. Roxas looked up and saw it. He quickly released his hold and fell off the Heartless, almost slung into Xion by its panicky movements. It didn't notice the boy jumping, and continued to crash about. Xion and Roxas knelt, hidden by leaves, and watched the Heartless crash into one final tree. With a huge, shuddering sigh, the gigantic tree gave up its hold on the earth. It tilted, and fell point-blank on top of the Heartless.

"Whoa."

The Heartless gave one last shriek, then stilled underneath the huge trunk. A few seconds later it dissolved into darkness, the hearts it had collected floating up into the tree tops. Roxas and Xion came to stand by it, Keyblades in hand. They watched it disappear entirely, like they had for every Heartless they destroyed in the previous worlds. Why, neither could say. They just did.

* * *

"Hey, Roxas. Let me see that book you took from Marluxia's room." Xion leaned against a tree trunk, watching the sparks from their fire disappear into the night sky. Roxas looked up; he was writing in his journal, as he had done before they left the other three worlds. They had dispatched a number of Heartless already, and Xion wanted to go back. Roxas did too, because he had found something he knew Zexion would love to see.

"Yeah. Here. Don't know why you want it; the other two could be read if you knew the language, but that one's unreadable." He handed he the book that he kept from raiding Marluxia's room. It interested him, even after Zexion had told him there was little chance of Roxas ever being able to read it. As Xion flipped through the pages, with their almost-understandable-but-not-readable words, he pulled out the other book in his bag.

It was filled to the brim with a child's handwriting. On the first page there was a spot for a name, and Roxas could read the last two words: _di Tortilonis. _There were quite a number of pages he could read, and one of them said something about a Keyblade and the darkness. Zexion would love this, he thought when he first found in the first world they had visited. It had been underneath a rock near the ruins of what once was a grand house or castle.

"Xion, who do you think wrote this book? A Keyblade user, maybe?" Xion looked up from her book, face lit up by the fire. She slowly closed the book in her lap, thinking. Roxas knew better than to disturb her when she was thinking.

"I don't know. From what Zexion implies, the only Keyblade users still alive are the King, Sora, and us. Riku can use the Keyblade, but he can't summon one on his own. Maybe it did belong to a Keyblade user a long time ago, but that person is gone now probably. I don't know." Xion gave the book back to Roxas, and stretched her arms. "Well, I'm going to bed now. In the morning we can give the forest another look, and if we don't find any Heartless we'll go back to the islands. Good-night, Roxas."

"Good-night, Xion." Roxas watched her spread out a blanket, then curl up in another on top of it. Her eyes closed and Roxas was alone in the clearing. He watched her for a moment more before turning to the two books in his lap. Opening up the one Xion gave him, Roxas flipped through the pages, much as she had done. He stopped half-way through the book, staring at the strange letters on the page.

"Book," he whispered, "show me your secrets. I command you!" He knew it wouldn't work, but he wanted to try saying that since he first found the book. He shook his head and was about to close the book when he realized he could read the words on the page.

_December 19_

_Dear journal,_

_Today I officially started living at the Academy. I met three Keyblade Masters, and they all liked me. Said I was a fresh look on the outside world. I don't know what they meant, but whatever. I'm finally away from my family, and I couldn't be happier._

_But I'm also by myself. I miss Ventus. He is my brother, even though everyone says he's way better than me. Screw them, he always says. We're twins, and so we are exactly alike. I hope so, because if he doesn't come to the Academy as well soon I'll get real lonely._

_But enough moping. I summoned my Keyblade today, for one of the Masters. They wanted to see what it was like, and to tell me its name. One of them can do that; it's really cool! He's called Master Monte, but that's not his real name. But everyone calls him that anyway. _

_My master, Master Bivora, says he doesn't do that for everyone, so I should feel especially honored. He said the name of my Keyblade was --------. Strange, but it fits my pure black Keyblade. Master Bivora said that the name of your weapon says a lot about you. I wonder what my Keyblade says about me._

Roxas stared at the words, mesmerized by what he could read among the strange letters. Keyblade Masters, he thought. So there were more of them, once. But what happened to them?

Across the fire Xion turned over in her sleep and Roxas realized how long he'd been staring at the page. Quickly, he placed a piece of paper in the book so he could get back to that page easily, and put it in his pack. Getting out his own blankets, Roxas rolled up in them and watched the fire dance above the wood logs. He didn't remember falling asleep, only the cackle of the flames and childish laughter floating away in the woods…

* * *

"_Who are you?" the young boy asked. Another boy stood in front of him, covered in leaves and mud. He looked just like the young heir._

"_I'm your twin brother, of course. Didn't anyone tell you that?" the leave covered boy asked. Neither heir nor wild child were older than four._

"_No, I'm an only child. Momma and Poppa say so." The young heir reached out and pulled a leave out of the other's hair. "Why are you such a mess?"_

"_Fell out of a tree near the riverbank. Miya says everyone knows we're twins. So maybe they just didn't tell ya for some reason. Stupid adults." This last statement was punctuated with a kick._

_The young heir had to admit that, for a young boy raised like he was, the other was pretty smart. "Maybe they forgot, or were gonna tell later, like at tonight's party. It's my birthday. Wait, ours, since we're twins, right?"_

"_Yeah, only I never get nothin'. Hey, we're twins, so can I come with you tonight? I'd love to go to a party. Never been to one, not 'afore now." The boy grinned, shedding leaves as he moved._

"_Yeah, that would be fun! Let's go tell Momma and Poppa now!" The heir grabbed the other boy's hand and they began running for the large house down the path._

"_Wait! What's you name?" The wild boy was pulling the heir along, and looked back._

"_You first."_

"_I'm Ventus, but that's weird. I like Ven better."_

"_Cool. Ventus. My name is Roxas. Come, let's hurry up!"_

_

* * *

_

"_Okay!"_Roxas sat up, reaching out for a hand that wasn't there. As Xion ran over and knelt next to him in the dawn light, he suddenly forgot what had bothered him.

"Roxas? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just…nothing, I guess. Come on, let's pack up and get back to the island." Xion smiled, and hugged Roxas.

"Alright. Let's get going." She got up, leaving a very confused and red Roxas behind, staring after her. He shook his head and jumped up as well, grabbing his things. "Hey! Wait, Xion!"

"What's wrong?"

"I can't find it!" Roxas turned his pack over and dumped everything out.

"What's missing?" Xion asked, kneeling beside the distraught boy. She watched him sift through everything on the ground, frantic in his searching.

"My shell! It's gone!"

"Maybe when we were fighting that Heartless it fell out. Come one, let's go look for it." Xion stood up. Roxas, after shoving all his stuff back into his pack, stood up as well. They headed over to the clearing they had fought in the day before. Roxas immediately began kicking leaves aside, searching for his beloved shell. Xion looked around near where the Heartless itself had collapsed. Several minutes of frantic searching later Roxas cried out.

"Found it!" He triumphantly held up the blue and yellow shell. In the early morning light it glittered slightly, even under the cover of the forest.

Xion came over and smiled at the boy kneeling on the forest floor. "Why's this shell so important to you anyway?" she asked, taking the shell in one hand and looking at it.

"Because you gave it to me, Xion," Roxas answered. He grinned up at the girl and stood, brushing leaves off his clothing. "No that that's over with, how about we get going back to the islands?"

"Sounds good. Let's go, Roxas." Xion smiled. Roxas helped her stand. Slipping his shell into a pocket, he shouldered his pack once more and opened a portal to go back to his friends. _Their _friends.

* * *

"Uh…Roxas?" Xion looked up and around. "Why are we at the World That Never Was?"

"Force of habit?" Roxas rubbed his head sheepishly. "Sorry."

Xion shook her head. "As long as we're here, let's get the rest of our stuff to bring to the islands." She scuttled off in search of her room.

"And maybe I can return these books to Marluxia's room. These two, at least," Roxas murmured to himself. "If I can find his room again." The only reason he had gone into Marluxia's room last time was because he had been searching for Axel's room. And gotten lost. Somehow. Hopefully he could remember how to get back to Marluxia's room.

"Where…am I?" Roxas looked around. He was still in the castle, yes, but not a part he recognized. Well, there was a door in front of him. "Let's see what's behind door number one," he whispered quietly. Quickly he reached out and opened the door. A wave of stale air blew over him, smelling like lab chemicals. Oh-so this was where Vexen's lab was. Roxas never had any clue before as to where it was. He cautiously crept into the silent room. It was dark, and most of the tables were covered in dusty cloths. Roxas treaded carefully, staring at the covered tables, wondering what was under the cloths. He didn't see the stool until he tripped over it.

"Ugh…" Roxas fell forward and half fell onto a table. The cloth fell off as he continued his trip to the floor. "Urg…gross, what is this stuff?" A bowl had fallen off the table and onto the floor. Some of the liquid inside it has splashed his hand. Roxas squinted at it, trying to tell what it was. He gave up and instead high-tailed it out of the lab. It was just as creepy as Vexen, if not creepier than the weird scientist.

"Uh-oh." His hand was turning blue. Panicking, he ran down the halls, searching for his own room. Finding it, Roxas shot inside and into the bathroom. Quickly he washed his hand, not trusting anything Vexen had created. The water turned blue and stained the sink, but his hand came clean. Roxas dried it and then stared at the sink, an idea hatching in his mind. Throwing his pack on the bed, Roxas ran down the hallways again. He skidded into the lab and grabbed up the bowl of blue dye.

Five minutes later Xion found Roxas waiting for her by her room. She stared suspiciously at the bottle of blue liquid in his hands but decided not to say anything. Roxas just smiled and opened a portal back to the Destiny Islands.


	2. Chapter 1

Xion sat on the palm tree trunk, swinging her legs. The sun was barely rising; Xion loved watching the sunrise. In Twilight Town all she ever got to see was the sunset, every time she went to the world. Now, she could go all over and watch a hundred different sunrises. Sunsets were pretty too, but they reminded her of the end of a day, the end of another happy memory. Sunrises were better because they were the beginning of a new day, one that could be completely different from the last one. Xion really, really loved sunrises.

"Mmmm! Xion, you're back quick." Kairi hopped onto the trunk next to the other girl. "Pretty sunrise, huh? Where's Roxas?"

"To be honest, no clue. He disappeared just as we came back here. I love sunrises, don't you?" Xion leaned back, holding onto the tree for support.

"Yeah. They're beautiful. I really hope Roxas isn't about to pull a prank or something."

"Knowing him, he's probably already got one set up and is waiting for his victim to wake up."

"ROXAS!! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!"

"I think we might be too late," Xion commented, leaning her head back. She and Kairi watched Roxas shoot out of Riku's house and down the beach. Riku ran out as well a moment later. "Wait…what…is Riku's hair…blue?"

"ROXAS! STOP RUNNING!"

"HELL NO YOU'RE GONNA KILL ME!"

"WHY SHOULDN'T I? MY HAIR IS BLUE!!!"

"IT'LL CAME OUT IN A SINGLE WASH!"

"I DON'T CARE YOU'RE STILL DEAD!"

"WHYYYYYYY? AT LEAST IT ISN'T PINK!"

"Note to self: never let Roxas near hair dye." Xion and Kairi didn't even bother looking at Sora. They were too busy laughing. "Is this like revenge for something? What did Riku ever do to Roxas?"

"ROXAS!!"

"HI RIKU! HOW ARE YOU TODAY?"

"WHY DID YOU DYE MY HAIR?!"

"REVENGE!"

"FOR WHAT?!"

Roxas stopped suddenly. Riku almost plowed into the boy. Before he could do anything, Roxas said something to him, arms moving. Sora couldn't tell what was said, but Riku calmed down. He looked away, then nodded. Roxas slowly made his way to the still laughing girls and Sora while Riku went down to the water to clean his hair.

"Roxas…" Xion wiped at her eyes. "Why…must you be so…mean to Riku?" She sucked in breath, face red from laughing so long. Roxas sat next to her and shrugged. Sora rolled his eyes. Roxas stuck his tongue out. Kairi sat up and watched with Xion as the two began taunting each other silently. They started to laugh again as the boys made all sorts of weird faces at each other.

"Keep doing that and your face will freeze that way," Riku remarked as we walked up, hair drenched but back to its normal color. Roxas and Sora immediately stopped whatever it was they were doing. "Interesting. Roxas, I'm not sure I want to know where you got that dye, so I'm not gonna ask. Zexion said he's going to drop by here once a week, and try to catch you two. He'll be coming in two days, if you want to wait to see him."

"Cool. We'll wait; I'm pretty sure I've found something he'd like to see." Roxas swung his legs, watching the sun. "Plus, I want to go talk to King Mickey. Ever wonder if there were other Keyblade users like us out there?" His blue eyes squinted at the bright rays of sunlight; his sand-colored hair shone and looked almost white.

"The King for sure," Sora replied. "I don't know. Never really thought about it, to be truthful. I think King Mickey might've once said all the other Keyblade users are dead or super old and don't fight anymore. Riku, what do you know?" He turned to the older boy, who was tugging at a lock of hair. Riku looked up, distracted.

"Huh? Well, I don't know. Ask around and find out for yourself. I am going to dry off and get dressed. See you wackos later." Riku shook his hair and walked back over to his house.

"Hey! Coming from the guy who dressed up as one of us? For fun? You're the real wacko here Riku!" The other boy didn't bother turning. He just waved a hand at Roxas and disappeared into his house. Roxas sighed and slipped off the palm tree. "Whatever. If he really wants to know, I got that stuff from Vexen's lab. I hope it doesn't have any ill side effects. Hey, let's go visit King Mickey now, before Riku really decides he wants to kill me."

"Roxas…why would you even use something Vexen made…?" Xion gave Roxas a look. "I can't even believe you went in his lab. That place…Vexen was a creep. I never liked him much." She hopped off the tree and spun around. "Kairi, Sora, want to come along?"

"Sure," Kairi replied, smiling. Sora shrugged. Xion smiled back and waved her hand. A portal opened while Roxas ran to get his pack. He ran back and slipped through the portal right before it closed. Riku left his house a moment after the portal closed, the others leaving him alone on the islands.

* * *

"Hello Roxas, Xion." King Mickey didn't seem surprised to see the four appear out of nowhere in his library. "The barriers are in place around Castle Oblivion once more; if you want to see Zexion now, you have to go to The World That Never Was first. I hope you two didn't cause a huge ruckus in the worlds you visited."

"No sir," Roxas and Xion replied at the same time. They all sat across from where the mouse sat reading letters spread in front of him on a desk. Sora caught a glimpse of one letter from where he sat; silver symbols covered the page in a circular pattern. King Mickey saw him looking, and shuffled the letters out of sight. He raised an eyebrow when the boy pouted.

"Anyway, we wanted to ask you whether there are any more people who can use the Keyblade. Other than you, of course," Roxas hastily added. He watched the King with an open expression, so much different than the way he looked almost two weeks ago. Mickey winced mentally, remembering how the boy seemed empty of life right before that final confrontation. Now, things were looking up once more. If only they could get Roxas to stop asking so many questions…

"Hmm? Other Keyblade masters and apprentices, you mean? Well, yes. There are still a few Masters hiding in the worlds. I highly doubt you will ever find them, however. The only ones still alive after that…well, they are very strong and very, very skilled. More so than myself. You three, however, are the only apprentices at the moment."

"Apprentices, as in, we are still learning how to fight with the Keyblade?" Sora asked.

"More or less, yes. Learning to fight, use magic, track, open portals, all apprentices learned those things. I wish you could have been born ten years ago, so that you could have seen the beauty of the Academy. Ahh," Mickey sighed, lost in memories from long ago. "Any one who looked like they could use magic or summon any kind of weapon was sent there to be trained. Most saw it as a place to train future Keyblade masters, but many others trained to become masters of magic and weapons. I once went there, along with Ansem."

"Ansem?! He was a Keyblade master?" Roxas yelled, outraged.

"Not quite, Roxas. He simply taught magic to students there like yourself. Why? Do you hold a grudge against Ansem? Do not forget, Xemnas and Xenohart did a lot of bad deeds in his name. He also stopped Kingdom Hearts and destroyed it, though it killed him to do so."

"Oh, a magic teacher. My magic teacher was evil," Roxas muttered. Xion giggled. "Ansem…wasn't he the one trying to put me back into Sora so we could become one again? Good or not, he was still trying to end my life. I can't help dislike him a little, even though if he hadn't done what he did I wouldn't be here now." He ran a hand through his hair sheepishly. "Although it's really Namine's fault I'm here. I wish I could've met her. Everyone but me met her at some point. Xion, Kairi, Riku, Axel, Sora…"

"But you did. In Twilight Town, remember?" Kairi gave Roxas a look. He returned it, confused.

"No, I don't remember that. I woke up in the forest, and before that, I…" Roxas trailed off. King Mickey intervened.

"That wasn't Roxas in DiZ's virtual world. That was the Replica of Roxas Namine had made. If it had been the real Roxas, he would have gone into Sora and not be here right now." And, the mouse added silently, the Organization would have been in a lot of trouble if that was the real Roxas. They were extremely lucky it wasn't. DiZ was also lucky that wasn't the real Roxas as well, or else he might have brought the entire mansion out in the woods down.

"Uh…moving on. Do you know any masters we can find and talk to, King Mickey?" Roxas asked, not understanding what Kairi had been talking about. And, he silently admitted, a bit afraid of what they had just said. If that had been the real Roxas…where would he be now?

"Unfortunately, no Roxas. I can try and contact one, but it might attract those we…don't want to meet at the moment. Beings of darkness, stronger than Heartless. And those who serve the darkness as well, they are just as dangerous. You would be best suited to run away from those like that at the moment."

"But why? It's not like the darkness can…" Roxas trailed off, suddenly realizing what the mouse must have already known. The dark couldn't hurt him, correct, but it could hurt his friends. Or seduce him to join them and attack the light, I.E. his friends. Mickey was afraid of what might happen in a face to face confrontation with the darkness and Roxas was alone. That would be very bad, the boy could see, very bad.

"Understand? Do not go looking for any Masters on your own. If they want to meet you, they will walk up and ask who you are." Mickey doubted they would ever end up in a world containing a hidden Master. There were only six left, if the letter from two years ago was telling the truth. And if it was, things were about to get very bad, for both the dark and light.

_The prophecy will come true at last. One shall fall and the other shall rescue him while sacrificing himself.  
_

"Alright, fine. Roxas, who's Vexen? Some kind of scientist on the Organization?" Sora turned to Roxas. "And why is it a bad idea to go in his lab?"

"Because before, if he caught you in his lab without permission, it was, well…let's just say you didn't want to get caught in there. I was opening a portal in the world me and Xion were in to go back to the islands, but opened it up to the World That Never Was instead, by accident. So I decided to return Marluxia's books, but I forgot where his room was. I wandered around, and ended up in Vexen's lab."

"And so you grabbed something _Vexen _made?"

"No, I slipped on something and accidentally knocked over a bowl filled with blue liquid. And my hand turned blue, so I figured it was like dye or something. Came off right away when I washed my hand too, so it couldn't have been really bad."

"So you put it in Riku's hair."

"Yes. For revenge."

"Revenge for what?"

"That's a secret to everyone but him and me, Sora."

"Roxas, please don't do that again."

"Why? It's not like Vexen's there to kill us for sneaking into his lab."

"…"

"Fine, I won't dye Riku's hair again."

"Thank you. And stay away from Vexen's room."

"Why? There's awesome stuff in there!"

"Hey, Roxas, do you think he has any more dye in there?"

"Maybe. Wanna check?"

"Roxas, no, Sora, if I find you with dye I will toss you into the ocean. The deepest part I can find."

"Oh, Kairi, come on. I promise to leave you alone. I'll just go after Riku and Roxas."

"Why me? And what about Xion?"

"She's with me, Roxas."

"Yeah. Us two against you two idiots."

"What about Riku?"

"He can get caught in the crossfire."

"Not nice Roxas."

"Fine. Riku is on his own team."

"Fair enough, I guess."

Mickey watched the four talk, amused. Everyone had matured since they first became involved in the fight against the darkness. He wondered what the other Princesses would say if Kairi returned to the Radiant Garden. Most of them probably wouldn't recognize her. Then again, everyone involved in this fight had changed one way or another, had lost something or someone because of the fight. The Heart Princesses wouldn't recognize each other after so many years apart.

"Are you four done talking yet?" Mickey asked. The teens all looked up and turned pink. Roxas and Kairi did, at least. They had been arguing about the best way to pull a prank on each other. "Why do you want to meet other Keyblade wielders anyway, Roxas? Do you want to fight them and see who's stronger?"

"No, but that would be fun. I'd lose for sure, I bet, if I did fight them. No, I wanted to see of they had any clue about where Nobodies go when they die. And if they do, if they would help me get to that place."

"Why?"

"Because I have…um, unfinished business, I guess you would call it, with some of them." Roxas twisted and looked away from the others. Only Xion would have understood that this was something he needed to do, just like the last two times. Just like the shell and that shadow, Roxas had to find the rest of Organization XIII. He had to talk to Axel, and find out why he never told Roxas anything, why he never truly trusted the boy. He had to know.

"I do too, now that I think about it." Everyone, including Roxas, turned to Kairi. "What? They kidnapped me, you know, and I want to know why. All they ever said was shut up and something about Kingdom Hearts. I want to know what they were planning to do with me."

"A lot of people have issues with the Organization," King Mickey cut in. Sora was beginning to look pissed. "No one knows exactly why they did the things they did, but I guess we can ask when Roxas finds them." When, he thought, not if. Sooner or later Roxas would find them, and set all the Nobodies free, so that they might roam the worlds once more. This time as actual people, not empty shells of someone else.

"Now, I have work to do, so you may stay here for a while if you want. Good day to you all." Mickey stood and left the room, giving the teens inside one last glance. They were all smiling, laughing, and talking to each other. None of them seemed to fell the darkness pressing in on all sides, trying to get at them and devour the light that so hurt it. The mouse shook his head, glad that they could be happy now, because they wouldn't have time for that later, if the latest letter from Inezo had anything to say about it.

_Arton and his apprentice have escaped their bonds placed on them by the Masters. They left the Valley of Tears and departed from the Isle of Hatred. I do not know where they are headed, but no doubt they want revenge. You'd best prepare yourselves for a harsh battle with the last two wielders of the Erzo blade._

_

* * *

A/N: _Feels good to be writing, er, typing again. I will try my hardest to never do this again. It kinda killed me to type up the chapters and not post them right away. I feel so bad T.T


	3. Chapter 2

"So you found this by ruins of what used to be a grand house in the first world you and Xion traveled to," Zexion repeated. He couldn't believe that Roxas had found this book. After ten, almost eleven years, it had finally been found. The journal of the last Keyblade apprentice.

"Yeah. Do you know who it belongs to? I'd guess a Keyblade wielder, because it talks about darkness and light and Keyblades and a war, I think, in it." Roxas scooped up a rock near his foot and threw it into the water. He watched Zexion silently freak out over the book he had handed the older man when he appeared on the beach this morning. "King Mickey said something about an Academy two days ago when we went to go talk to him. Could those ruins I saw been that Academy?"

"No, that structure still stands, even after everyone left. No, most likely that was Ven's home. This, this is his journal. Every person who enters the Academy, for whatever reason, is made to keep a journal of what they do during their time in the place. Whether it be for training, a simple message, or whatever, everyone had to keep track of what they did. No one knows why, either; maybe the first people who went there started writing about their days, and it simply became habit for everyone else to do it as well."

"Who's Ven?"

"Another Keyblade apprentice, much like yourself. He was one of the last to disappear, and no one knows where he is currently, if he's even alive. Hell, no one has any clue as to where his remains might be. I expect him to be dead, but others who knew him disagree." Zexion ran his hands over the cover of the book. This could, this might be enough to clean up the mess that killed nearly everyone who wielded the Keyblade.

"Oh. Okay." Roxas kicked at the sand. "Riku said you wanted to talk to me and Xion when we came back. Why can't anyone go to Castle Oblivion now? Did you seal the way to it or something?"

"Well, I am talking to you, Roxas. Castle Oblivion…it has been here for who knows how long. Before the person I once was, for sure. It is a complete mystery to everyone, and no one so far has been able to find out how, or why, it came to be. Or why only some can see it, and enter the castle, and others cannot. It is an even bigger mystery than you are, Roxas," Zexion teased. Roxas turned pink. "Go find Xion; I do need to talk to the two of you."

Roxas ran off. Zexion ran a hand through his hair and looked down at the book again. "It isn't nice to stare, Sora." The boy jumped, not knowing that Zexion knew he was there. "Instead of staring at my back, why don't you come up here, where I can see you, and ask what you must so want to know? And no, I do not have eyes in the back of my head."

"I knew that," Sora said as he walked up to stand by Zexion. "Riku does that to me all the time, and I know he doesn't have two sets of eyes. He just knows me really well. Why do you care about that book so much?"

Zexion watched the younger boy out of the corner of his eye. "Because eleven years ago, almost, something or someone killed nearly everyone who wielded a Keyblade. And anyone who had potential to do so, as well. The few of us left who survived what happened are trying to find out why, and how. It's not every day the strongest magic and Keyblade users just die, all at once. We are attempting to make sure the same thing doesn't happen again."

"That would be bad, if no one could use the Keyblade, right? The Heartless would run wild, and eat everyone's hearts. Soon, nothing but darkness would be left." Sora shivered. "Yeah, I guess it would be bad. Is that what you want to talk to Roxas and Xion about? Not being idiots and getting themselves killed?"

"That, and to watch out for someone else." Zexion tucked the book into his pocket. He turned and watched Roxas, Xion, Riku, and Kairi run down the beach, racing each other. He stepped back before one of them could plow into him. Xion stopped, Riku tripped and flew into the sand face first, Kairi ran into Sora, and Roxas managed to slow down and not run into anything. "Children. Most amusing to watch."

"We're not children," Riku complained as he shook sand out of his hair.

"Teenagers, but I'm not sure what you'd call Xion and Roxas." Kairi looked at the two.

"Teenagers with baby logic. Now, pay attention." Zexion rubbed his hands together. "About five days ago one of darkness's greatest human allies broke free of his prison. He and his apprentice are wandering around the worlds, much like you two are. The elder is Arton, and the younger is called Gilfur. No one knows if that is his real name or not. Both wield what is called the Erzo blade. It is the only weapon that is strong enough to break a Keyblade. A most deadly weapon, and the ones wielding it even more so. Arton is a master of ice magic and Gilfur fights with a mix of earth and lightening, neither mastered fully but deadly nonetheless. I do not know what they look like, for I have never met them, and can only tell you five to be extremely careful when you go hunting for Heartless."

All five listened intently. They knew that what Zexion was saying could save their lives, if needs be. Roxas hesitantly spoke up. "What do the blades look like?"

"Their appearances vary, not unlike the mastered Keyblade. The blade changes color and form when its master wishes it to, though some things will stay the same. The golden hilt, length, and just the feel of the weapon should be enough to tell you its true nature."

"Feel…what does an Erzo blade feel like, then?"

"To you, and Xion and Sora as well, it feels wrong. Like it shouldn't exist, not even in your dreams. Riku, you may fell this too, though I'm not certain. You should feel something when you see it." Zexion looked at each of the teens in turn. Kairi looked scared; Sora did too, and determined; Riku looked worried; Xion had a look similar to Kairi, but determined as well; and Roxas didn't look scared or worried. No, he looked like he wanted to find the pair and kill them. Zexion couldn't expect any better, really. The boy had gone through hell and back; it would take a lot to scare or worry him. Either that, or just go after Xion. That would get him really riled up.

"The Erzo blade was made by someone who was expected to be able to wield a Keyblade, but for some reason couldn't summon one of his own. Much like Riku. So he thought, and thought, and finally said, what's so great about the Keyblade? Then he went into his father's forge, and made a sword that could cut a Keyblade clean in half, imbued with all the changing power of a Keyblade of a Master. He then went after his old teacher and tested out the blade. It is so named for the first it ever killed, Master Erzo. There are not many still around, for it was one of the weapons that could be summoned and used only be a few, and all but two wielders were killed with the Keyblade wielders. Those two had already been sealed away in the Valley of Tears, but they have finally broken free after twenty years of imprisonment."

The teens remained silent. Each was caught up in their own thoughts of the new enemies. Dangerous, yes, but unbeatable? "I bet we could kick their asses." Zexion turned to Roxas and looked at him in horror. "Well, all of us together. Me, Xion, Sora, Riku, Kairi, you, King Mickey, Goofy, and Donald. I bet all of us combined could win against those two."

Zexion didn't answer. He just smacked his forehead. Why, oh why, he thought, is this idiot the carbon copy of that other smart, sensible, non-suicidal kid? "Roxas…forget it. How about this: if you see Arton or Gilfur, or you think you do, you get the hell out of that world. You find us, we go back to that world, and if they're still there we can see who's stronger? Will that make you happy?"

"No, it was just a thought, but yeah, I'd love to fight them." Roxas grinned. Everyone else stared at him as though he was crazy. There was a good chance he was. "If those blades are so strong, maybe they could…yeah," Roxas muttered under his breathe. Riku took a step away from the boy. Sora continued to stare at Roxas. Xion was looking at the water and back at her friend, wondering if he would go back to being Roxas if she dumped him into the water. Kairi was watching Xion, contemplating helping her shove Roxas into the water.

"Roxas…you have serious mental problems," Riku remarked. "What did Zexion say? Teenager with baby logic. These two guys sound seriously strong, way stronger than that shadow of Xemnas was. No matter how crazy you are, I highly doubt you can take on either of those two on your own."

"I'm not going to take them on by myself, Riku. I'm gonna find you guys so we can all beat them," Roxas replied. "Besides, I beat you, didn't I?"

"You had two Keyblades, plus you were suicidal."

"Was not. You were just weak."

"Yes you were. Taking on half the Organization by yourself?"

"So? I know at least one of them wouldn't have fought, and maybe some others might've joined me."

"And what if they all fought you?"

"Then I would have beat all of them and found a way to bring Xion back!"

"Roxas, they would have killed you."

"So?! Then maybe I wouldn't be separated from Xion!"

"Why are you so hooked on the idea of bringing her back?"

"Because! Have you ever lost the person you cared about most?!"

Somehow the calm conversation had turned into yelling. Zexion looked on, with the other three watching confusedly.

"Yeah, two times over."

"Lost them and know that you'd never see them again no matter what?! Forget them even as you were trying to keep them alive?!"

Riku opened his mouth and closed it. "No…no, I haven't. I remember that, though. Fighting, and forgetting Xion at the same time." He turned away, and watched the waves. Sora looked between the two; Riku looked regretful, while Roxas looked saddened.

"Um…" Xion wrung her hands. "Alright, you two still have some issues to fight over. Can you do it some other time, when Zexion's not here? Can we continue talking now?" The two boys looked at her, and her worried expression. Both nodded after a moment. It seemed that Xion didn't like to hear or talk of the time she wasn't around. Understandably, Zexion thought. It would bother anyone.

"Sorry," Riku whispered. Roxas held one of Xion's hands and gave her a small smile.

"Hmm. What are you planning to do with the Erzo blades once we beat their wielders, Roxas?" Zexion hadn't missed the boy's mutterings.

"Nothing you need to know," Roxas retorted. Zexion rolled his eyes. The boy was learning quickly. "And why do you say I have baby logic? What's that?"

"What does it sound like? Baby logic. Roxas, and Xion too, you two are just like newborn babies. There are a lot of things you don't understand. A lot of things you do you do because you just do. You don't know the reasons for doing them. Well, most things you don't know the reasons. Some of them are a bit self-explanatory. Like fighting Heartless, eating, and sleeping. And then there are the things you think about that normal people don't, because they might take it for granted or they just accept it and never think why they do."

"So basically Roxas and Xion think differently than most normal people. Looks like Sora can finally relate to someone else mentally." Riku grinned at the afore mentioned boy. Sora scowled and jumped onto the other boy, yelling "That's not nice! Stop talking about yourself Riku!"

Kairi stepped away from the now fighting boys. "Boys are idiots," she remarked as she watched the two try to throw the other into the sand. "But it would be weird to see them not fight. Anyway, Roxas and Xion pretty much have teenager bodies and the minds of a baby."

"Hey, did you just insult me and Xion?" Roxas asked, confused.

"No, she's just saying we're, what, fifteen year old babies who can use Keyblades," Xion summarized for the confused boy. "How old are you anyway, Kairi?"

"Fifteen, and so is Sora. Riku is a year older than us. Zexion, how old are you?" Zexion jumped. He hadn't expected to get dragged into this conversation.

"Uh…I've been alive for ten years."

"How old was the person you used to be?"

"He's still alive, Roxas. And he's thirty-one, for your information."

"Can we meet him?"

"If you can break into the world containing the passed-away Nobodies I'll introduce you to him."

"Why is he stuck there?"

"I never said that."

"But you just said we can't meet him till we free the other Nobodies."

"Why are you three ganging up on what I say?"

"Because it's fun," all three chorused. Zexion rolled his eyes. Even Sora and Riku, both now covered in sand, laughed at him.

"Well, if you're done torturing me, I shall take my leave." Zexion ran a hand through his hair again. Conversing with Roxas for any period of time gave him a headache, even when they had been in the Organization. The boy made him think about things Zexion would rather never think about again. "I'm going to visit Mickey, then go back to Castle Oblivion. Remember, you have to go to either The World That Never Was or The End World to get to Castle Oblivion."

"Why The End World? Wasn't that place destroyed?" Sora looked up at Zexion; he had a fistful of sand in one hand and the other was keeping Riku's hand away from his face.

"I'm not sure, that's just the way the worlds work, I guess. And no, it's still there, Sora."

"Oh no, when Zexion guess it's the end of the world!"

Zexion glared at Roxas. The boy laughed. "One: Demyx said that when Vexen guessed something. And two: stop copying what Axel and Demyx say. They were, and still are I bet, idiots."

"No way, Demyx was cool. He was the best sitar player I've ever heard. I wish you guys could've heard him play," Xion sighed.

"He was the only sitar player we knew, Xion."

"Shut up Roxas. Demyx was good."

Zexion eyed the teens. Riku and Sora had gone back to their wrestling match in the sand; Roxas was now the target of Xion's glare while Kairi laughed at the 'idiot boys'.

"Yeah…I'm going to be going now. See you all later."

"Bye Zexion!" Roxas yelled as he ran from Xion. She ran after him. Zexion watched them run and the two boys try to drown each other. Kairi waved good-bye before she ran after Roxas and Xion.

"To think that our fates are in these guys' hands," Zexion muttered. "We are screwed."

* * *

A/N: Filler, I know. This chapter has a point! Let's see if anyone caught it.

Oh, and before I forget:

NobodyXIV: Amazing that you could get that from one chapter when it would've taken some people coughmybrocough until the moment, uh, chapter it happened to figure it out. Question is, how am I going to do that?


	4. Chapter 3

"Why do we always end up in forests?"

"I don't know."

"Do you really like them or something, Roxas?"

"No! They're cool and all, but I'm not doing this on purpose!"

"I'm making the portal next time."

"Fine. Maybe we keep ending up in forests cause that's were I first woke up…again."

"Maybe. I still make the next portal."

Roxas shook his head and slipped his pack on. Grabbing Xion's hand, he began to make his own path through the forest floor. Xion watched birds fly above their heads, chirping at the intruders. She smiled and waved at them. A few followed the pair as they made their way to a road they could see up ahead. The trees grew closer together as they got closer to the road, as if the trees didn't want anyone to leave. Their brown and green mottled trunks watched the two teens leave the forest, covering them with leaves as revenge for leaving. Roxas and Xion shook themselves free of the branches and leaves.

"Look." Roxas pointed to the left. "People." There were five of them, all wearing long black cloaks. Xion looked at them, and felt a shiver run down her spine. She pulled on Roxas's hand as they suddenly started for the teens.

"Roxas, let's get out of here." Roxas didn't argue; he began walking fast, looking over his shoulder every so often. Xion was almost running; she wanted to get away from the people so badly. Roxas looked back again, and broke into a run. The five people were much closer, and clearly unfriendly. Their cloaks flew to the side, and the teens could see the swords and scythes the people carried. They ran faster.

"This way!" The path split and Roxas shot down the right lane, towards what looked like a walled city in the distance. A glance back told him the strange people were also running now. They would catch up very soon, even with Roxas and Xion running their fastest.

Xion looked back just as the people were upon them. "Noooo-" A squeal burst from her lips as one grabbed her. Roxas fought off another and was tackled down for his efforts. He struggled to get one arm free when a horrendous screech filled the air. The people fled without thought, leaving Roxas and Xion panting in the middle of an empty road.

"Roxas-wha…" Xion sat up and reached a hand out to Roxas. He leaned over and clasped it in his own as a dark shadow fell over the two. They looked up, and fled to the side of the road just as a giant bird came crashing down on the road. No, not a bird-a Heartless. Roxas scrambled against a trunk, trying to push Xion behind it. So that's what screamed, he thought wildly as he summoned his Keyblade. Xion summoned hers and ran out, behind the Heartless. It screamed again, sending birds flying into the sky from the forest.

Roxas heard other, bigger beasts run as well. He hoped they were headed away from this fight. He hoped they were beast and not those people waiting to capture him and Xion again. Waiting until Xion was directly across from him, on the other side of the road, he charged the Heartless. It flapped its wings, creating a dust storm. Roxas stumbled around in it, one arm covering his eyes. He swung at the Heartless every time he caught sight of it. Xion's fingers dug into his arm and pulled him out of the dust storm.

"It's no use! It'll just keep whipping up dust and rocks if we attack! We need to lure it into the forest, so it can't open its wings." Xion gestured at the forest with her Keyblade. Roxas nodded, eyes watering. He wiped them as the Heartless finally realized that its attackers were gone. The dust settled as it looked around, trying to find them that attacked it. Right as it spotted them Roxas jumped up and swung his Keyblade. The Heartless fell back with another scream, wings trying to protect its face. Xion attacked from the side, slipping under the wings and getting the tender face of the Heartless.

"Ha ha! Try beating us, Heartless! We're unbeatable!" Roxas gave one final hit. The Heartless fell into the braches and brambles of the forest. Thrashing about, its wings got caught in the trees. It screamed as it thrashed around. Xion covered her ears at the sound. Roxas shook his head and jumped onto a low branch. Using it as leverage, he flung himself up higher and gave the Heartless a good pounding. One more bounce and the Heartless fell still, defeated. Roxas landed on the branch and couldn't stop himself from bouncing again.

"Roxas, what do you think you're-" Xion watched Roxas fly up, and then fall right onto her. She squealed again and pushed the boy off of her. Said boy was rubbing the back of his head, where a lump was beginning to form. Xion stood and watched the Heartless release the hearts it had collected. Roxas just continued to lie on the ground.

"Well, that's over with. C'mon, Roxas, let's get to that city or whatever it is before those creeps come back." Xion put away her Keyblade and ran to pick up her pack from where it had fallen. She tossed Roxas his and turned to look up and down the road they were standing on. "Hurry up. I don't like being out in the open like this when there are freaks like that loose."

"I get it Xion, but man my head hurts." Roxas sat up, still rubbing his head. He looked up, then around at the forest. "Hey, do you notice-none of the animals have returned. Maybe-" A cacophony of shrieks was the only warning the two got before the huge group of Heartless descended from the sky and ran from the forest. Roxas yelled and jumped up, already attacking the closest ones with his Keyblade. Xion cried out as well, re-summoning her own weapon to fight of the new swarm. Both fought their hardest, but there were too many Heartless. They were quickly being surrounded on all sides, with no way out of the mess.

"Xion! Forget fighting-just run!" Roxas kept slashing as he began to make his way through the swarm. He tried, but couldn't get very far. Xion was on the edge, and had a bigger chance of getting away. "Xion-forget me! Run and get help!" Even as he called out to the girl, he was overtaken by the Heartless. He cried out and flailed but to no avail. Xion screamed as she tried to fight her way to him.

"Roxas! Roxas! Don't give up! Someone, help! ROXAS!" She reached out a hand to him as the Heartless covered her as well, blocking her sight. Roxas reached out, and could barely brush his fingertips against hers. No! This couldn't the end! Not for him, not for her, not for anyone!

"NO!" The last thing he saw was a yellow flash cutting through the Heartless before the darkness swallowed him.

* * *

"Nnng…" Roxas slowly opened his eyes. Or tried to. His entire body ached. Even thinking about moving hurt. The corners of his lips quirked at that thought. What would Xion say about that…

"Xion!" He shot up, the thought of the girl enough to rekindle his energy. As soon as he tried to jump out of the bed someone else pushed him down again. The hands held him there as Roxas blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision. All he could see was a halo of red in front of him.

"Boys! Don't know when it's time to rest. Stay lying down, kid, or I'll make you fall asleep again." Roxas could make out the person now. She had long red hair and bright blue eyes. When Roxas slowly nodded she let go of his shoulders.

"Where's Xion?"

"The girl? Sleeping over there, like you should be." The woman moved so Roxas could see Xion lying on the bed next to his. He smiled at the sight of her, relaxing. The woman gave him a strange look, then shrugged and walked away. "You're both lucky to be alive, you know that? If Minato hadn't been out looking for that group of rogue Mist Nin you'd be dead or worse by now."

"Thanks for rescuing us," Roxas whispered. "I'm Roxas, and she's Xion. Actually, me and her fight Heartless for a living."

"Heartless? Is that what you call them?" The woman turned, leaning on a table covered in what looked like medical supplies. "Hmm…I'll have to tell the others about that. Seems to be a good name for the things, better than anything we can come up with. I'm Uzumaki Kushina, by the way. Actually Namikaze, but only a few know that."

Roxas nodded. "Can I sit up?"

"If you do it slowly. Your head must be made of steel or better to have taken no damage from a lump like the one you had. If you think you're going to upchuck do it over the side of the bed." Roxas nodded and slowly sat up. The room spun, then settled. He looked around the room he was in. There were the two beds he and Xion were lying in, a table, three stools, cabinets up on the walls, and a window to the left of his bed.

Kushina noticed him looking. "You and your friend are in Minato's house. We couldn't take you to the hospital, but we got Tsunade to come over and heal you anyway. She's fought those things-Heartless, you say?-before, and know how bad they can hurt a person. We've had more than one Shinobi die just from coming in contact with one."

"Yeah, they steal hearts from people and turn them into Heartless as well. No one knows why, really, but Zexion says there are a few people out there who have pretty good ideas why." Roxas turned to watch Xion sleep. "Anyone can kill them, but they'll just keep coming back unless a Keyblade gets them."

"Keyblade," Kushina murmured. "That giant key you were holding onto then. That's the only way to really get rid of them, for good?"

"For good, yeah. I've never seen a world with such a big Heartless problem before. One had a lot of them, but nowhere near as bad as you people have it."

"World?"

"Kushina, are they awake?" A man with blond hair stood in the doorway. Roxas spared the blond a glance before returning to his vigilance on the sleeping girl. "That's a bit creepy kid. You just don't watch people sleep."

"Normal people, maybe. According to Zexion and King Mickey me and Xion have only half a heart each. Does that make us normal people like you then?" Roxas looked up again and tilted his head to one side. The blond man stared at him in confusion.

"Half a…Kushina, put that needle down. I'm pretty sure he isn't crazy."

"Minato, like you'd know who's crazy and who's not." Kushina stood up and walked over to the side of Roxas's bed. "Now young man I think you'd best explain everything. Start with the Heartless thing again and then move onto the world part. And then about the half a heart thing."

"Okay." Roxas looked up as Minato came to sit next to him. "Alright. The Heartless occupy almost every world. They are beings of darkness that absorb and steal other people's hearts. As to why, there are several theories but no actual answer. Um, worlds. There are a ton of them. I've been to a few to hunt Heartless. Xion and I, plus Sora and King Mickey, are the only ones who can actually kill, if you want to call it that, a Heartless. It's because we wield the Keyblade. Only a few people can summon and use it. Like Riku, he can use a Keyblade but he can't summon one on his own. Axel told me once that Heartless don't actually die, they just disappear. Like us Nobodies. Anyway, there are only a few people who know that there are other worlds out there, and even fewer have the ability to travel to them. I was taught how to, along with Xion, during my time as an Organization XIII member." Roxas stopped and took a deep breath.

"A person can lose their heart several ways: give it up, have it stolen, or join the darkness. When a person loses their heart for whatever reason, they create two things: a Heartless and a Nobody. Heartless I already explained; Nobodies are, well, Xion and I are basically Nobodies. We were born without hearts, and up until a little while ago everyone thought we couldn't get hearts because of Xenohart and Xemnas. They were trying to create Kingdom Hearts, which Xemnas said could give us Nobodies hearts and make us real people. I'm not sure what Kingdom Hearts really was, but Ansem destroyed it. He died doing so. Um…" Roxas blinked and thought for a moment.

Minato and Kushina exchanged a look. "Oh yeah, Organization XIII. Has anyone in this world ever seen people dressed in long black cloaks and gloves? Well, the Organization dressed us like that and sent us out on missions to get rid of Heartless. That's where I spent my first year of…being alive, I guess. Xemnas gave me a name too; he took Sora's name-that's my Somebody, the person I once was-and mixed it up with an 'x' in it. I forget what that's called…"

"Anagram," Minato filled in for the boy. He nodded.

"Yeah. Most Nobodies look kinda like Heartless but sometimes a person with a strong heart loses it and so the Nobody that is created has a human form and the memories of the person they once were. Everyone in the Organization was like that. Xion and I were the only exceptions to that rule; me I'm not sure why, and Xion because she isn't really a Nobody but a Replica made from Sora's memories of another person."

"So…basically you were born because someone lost his heart," Minato tried to clarify. Kushina just sat staring at the boy.

"Uh, yeah. You think that's confusing? Try about a month ago, my time. Xion had…disappeared and when a Replica is gone no one is supposed to remember them. But for some reason I did, and made other people remember her, and that created a huge mess. Really confusing because I'm still not too sure how she's still here." Roxas gave the sleeping girl another smile. "But I'm glad she's here, don't get me wrong."

Minato gave Kushina another look. The red head was staring off into space. "Kushina…Roxas, is it?" The boy nodded. "Alright, I think I pretty much get everything you said. So now why are you and…Xion here?"

"We're hunting Heartless and searching for the world containing all the other Nobodies. Xemnas said when a Nobody dies it just goes away forever because we don't have hearts but I'm a Nobody with a heart. And I've seen my friends in dreams that King Mickey said were real. So we are searching for that world cause I have a ton of questions to ask some of the other members. Like why they didn't trust me and why they would always be so mean to Xion. Oh, and one of my old friends deserves a punch in the face for never telling me anything about Xion and Sora when he knew about them."

"Interesting. Now that I think about it, one of my friends also is in need of a good punch." Minato ran a hand through his blond hair. "This is what I get: those things are Heartless that collect hearts and turn other people into Heartless. You and a few others can wield a Keyblade, which is the only thing that can get rid of Heartless for good. Now you and your friend are going around the worlds getting rid of Heartless. Plus you two both have half a heart…how?"

"Oh, sorry. Apparently a Nobody can gain a heart of their own if, like me and Xion, they have no memories of their past, or give up the memories of who they once were. Either way sounds horrible because for a Nobody, memories are the only thing we can hold onto. Axel said that I was like a zombie the first week he knew me. Xion was like that too; we didn't have any clue what we were doing or why. I can barely remember that first week, too…" Roxas trailed off. He eyes were unfocused, watching something only he could see.

Kushina snapped her fingers in front of Roxas. He jumped. "I get all of that. Now tell me why you took on a horde of Heartless right outside Konoha's gates."

"The city? Konoha. Well, we were going towards the city when a bunch of weird people grabbed us. They ran away when this giant Heartless flew in from the sky. Xion and I beat it easy and were about to run to the city when that giant swarm of Heartless appeared. We didn't have any time to react or do anything but try and fight our way away from them. Honest; I've been attacked by swarms of Heartless before, and it's not fun fighting your way out of them."

"Nnng…"

"Xion!" Roxas would have shot out of his bed had Minato not been sitting next to him. The blond slung an arm around Roxas's chest to keep him from flying off the bed. The younger boy fought him, of course, as Xion stirred. Kushina smacked the blond as she passed them and kneeled by the other bed. She rested her hand on Xion's forehead as the girl opened her eyes.

"Minato, let the boy go. You're just the same as him; the second you woke up after a battle you'd fly around checking your friends and seeing if they're alright. Hey, how are you feeling?" The red-head's voice changed as she tended to the now-conscious Xion.

"I don't…where are…I'm…fine?" Xion looked around, confused. Roxas nearly fell out of his bed trying to reach a hand out to her.

"Let me go! Xion you're awake!"

"Kid, calm down! You'll pull us both-"

Xion looked over at the pair just as they fell to the floor with a thump. She quickly sat up and peered over the edge of the bed. "Roxas...? What are you doing?"

"Hi Xion." Roxas grinned up at the girl. "Trying to see if you're all right but someone won't let go of me."

"I thought I told you to let the boy go."

"I was about to! Then he decided to visit the floor and I got pulled along."

"Oh grow up. You've faced way worse than eating the floor." Kushina stooped down and pulled the blond up. She then grabbed Roxas's shirt and hauled him onto Xion's bed and practically into the girl's lap. "There. Now calm down a bit, would you? I have to deal with enough idiots as it is already."

"Uh, yes Kushina." Roxas turned pink. "Xion, are you alright?"

"Fine, I guess. What happened to the Heartless?" Xion asked. She picked at the shirt she was wearing. "And what happened to our clothes?"

Kushina paused long enough in her glaring match with Minato to answer. "We took them off because they were ripped to shreds, almost, and covered in grime. The Heartless are gone, hidden in the forest. They don't dare come into the village."

"Oh, okay. Thanks." Xion smiled brightly at the pair. They both gave the young teens a weird look. Neither noticed, too busy talking to each other.

"I need to tell the council everything Roxas told us," Minato murmured. His blue eyes swept over the two sitting on the bed, chatting animatedly.

"Just about the Heartless. No one needs to know about them. We can just say they came from far away and know how to fight the Heartless. Nothing more, nothing less." Kushina shook her head. The blond smiled at her.

"You would know best, Waterfall ambassador." He ran his hand over her cheek and kissed it softly. "Watch over them and let no one see them, not even Jiraiya. Be safe," he whispered. After one last glance at the teens, now completely silent, he disappeared in a yellow flash.

Well," Kushina announced, turning to the two watching her with wide eyes, "how about getting some lunch?"

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor its characters

Claimer: I do own any OCs I might make in this world or other worlds


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: I haven't read or watched Naruto in a while so forgive me if I got something wrong. Still love the series, don't get me wrong. There wasn't much said about Naruto's parents so I kinda just made them the way I always thought of them. And for spoilers, Roxas and Xion will come back later when Naruto is a Genin.

* * *

Kushina stood with her hands on her hips and surveyed the two teens in front of her. Xion was wearing clothes similar to what she had lost: a light green sleeveless top, dark green long-sleeve jacket, and dark green slacks. Roxas had on a black long-sleeve shirt with a blue t-shirt over it and a pair of black slacks. He had managed to keep his checkered wristband and ring. Kushina shrugged and motioned the two to turn around. Tsunade had been very upset, to say the least, when she found out the council wanted to meet the teens only a day after they had arrived in Konoha. But Roxas and Xion, oddly enough, were fine; their injuries were almost healed completely, thanks to Tsunade's help, and they wanted to get out and look around the village.

"Alright," Kushina started as she closed the door behind them, "you two have to follow me. You can look around, but do not talk to anyone you see. Stay close, and don't grab anything you see and like." Both teens nodded. They were eager to get out and run about, but after their startling experiences the day before, Roxas and Xion didn't quite feel like screwing around. Even then Roxas watched the people they passed with great interest, and Xion looked at shops with wide eyes. Kushina sighed; these two were just like little children were had never seen a city before.

""Wow…Xion, we have to bring Riku and the others here," Roxas whispered to Xion.

"Yeah, if we can find our way back here."

"Sure we can. Easy. Just open the portal in a forest."

"Roxas you're an idiot!" He grinned and ducked under Xion's friendly punch. The red-head rolled her eyes and waved to Mikoto, waiting by the Hokage Tower. Xion and Roxas fell silent as they approached the huge structure. Both were wide-eyed, leaning back to see the top of the tower. Mikoto smiled and walked over to the small group.

"Well, Kushina, are these two the new arrivals the council is so eager to meet?" Mikoto gave her friend a small hug. "Now, aren't you two something? Ever been to the Land of Fire before?"

They stared at her, wide eyed, and in Roxas's case, opened mouthed. She laughed at the faces.

"How do you know that?" Kushina asked as she pushed the two teens through the doors and into the tower.

"Fugaku told me. He heard that, well more like saw, your husband pull two Shinobi from a huge swarm of those black things. Well, he thought they were Shinobi until the council pretty much kidnapped Minato and demanded to know what exactly happened yesterday."

"And now I have to bring these two in to talk to them." Kushina and Mikoto shared a long-suffering look. The two silent teens gaped at the inside of the tower. Passing Shinobi paid no attention to the staring teens. The only ones who stared back at the two new-comers were the same age as the two, out of place in the busy tower. Kushina glanced over and scowled at the two teenagers watching her charges with curious eyes.

"You two," she snapped at them. "Here, now." The boy and girl obeyed without question. Roxas and Xion knew why; being stuck with the red-head for an entire day, they knew how quickly her temper could flare up. Roxas even had heard Minato whisper "Wild child" when he came back last night and Kushina had whisper-yelled at him for being out so late.

The two came to stand in front of Kushina, playing with the pouches hanging from their belts of fiddling with their clothes. The boy had grey hair that fell over his face, a mask covering the lower part of his face, and a headband with a metal plate covering his right eye. He was wearing a dark blue shirt, black baggy capris, and his right arm was wrapped in bandages from the elbow to his fingers. The girl had light brown hair to her shoulders, brown eyes, and two red tattoos on her cheeks. She wore a light purple kimono to her knees, dark purple undershirt and shorts, and fishnet stockings down to her sandals.

"Well? What are you two doing here? Shouldn't you be on, like, a mission or something?" Kushina kept her scowl trained on the two even as she propelled Roxas and Xion up a flight of stairs. Neither answered her and instead trailed behind Mikoto up the stairs. The red-head huffed and turned back to her charges. "Alright, Kakashi, you're always quiet, but you, Rin, are a chatterbox. Why are you here following me around?"

The girl finally spoke up. "We want to see Sensei. He hasn't been around much lately and I wanted to ask him about what's happening over in the Land of Rice. Seems they have a huge, um, monster problem."

Roxas turned to look back at her. "Heartless? Man, they're everywhere here, aren't they? Kushina?"

Mikoto giggled as the other woman sighed. "Never you mind. Look, you two, go away for a bit. These two are going to see the council. If you can wait patiently, we'll meet up with you later, after the council meeting. Got it?" The two young Shinobi nodded. Xion turned to look at the others while Kushina left them and disappeared through a set of huge doors. Rin met her eyes eagerly while Kakashi glanced away. Roxas watched him with curious eyes as Mikoto watched the entire group. Her sharp eyes saw how close Roxas and Xion were, how if one moved the other did so as well. She noticed the way both seemed to stand on their toes, as if something could jump out and attack them at any time.

"Alright." Kushina returned. She motioned Roxas and Xion over to her. "Now, you are about to talk to the strongest and most powerful people in this entire village and possibly land. Remember these things and they'll likely leave you be for as long as you stay here: don't talk unless spoken to or asked to, don't look scared or nervous, look a person in the eye when you talk to or listen to them, and try not to do anything stupid."

Xion smiled at the older woman. "Don't worry; we've been in meetings like this before. We'll be good. Trust us, our friends would kill us if me and Roxas did anything stupid."

Kushina sighed. "Then please be smart." With a final shake of her head and a muttered 'they're just giant babies' which only Mikoto heard, she ushered the teens into the meeting room.

If the two though the outside was grand, it was nothing compared to the meeting room. The walls were dark wood that gleamed slightly in the light let in through the pair of windows behind the head of the table. The table itself was also made of dark wood that seemed to absorb the sunlight instead. On the walls were picture frames containing old pictures, book pages, and one held an old, crumbly scroll. Other than those few picture frames, the table, and chairs, the chamber was empty. But those few things and the people waiting for them seemed to make the room…regal almost, Xion thought. Roxas merely thought the room was cool; the people watching him enter not so cool. Most watched the newcomers with thinly disguised curiosity; some watched with contempt, and two or three had no expression on their faces at all. The only exception was Minato, sitting at the head of the table. He flashed the three a grin before becoming somber once more.

"Uzumaki-san, you may leave now," the old man sitting nearest to the group boomed. "Your presence is not needed at this particular meeting." The red-head gave the two teens a look of encouragement before she left. The two felt considerably more nervous now that the only person they knew, save Minato, was gone, leaving them alone with all those eyes watching them.

"Now," the same man as before boomed, "who exactly are you two?"

Xion reached out and gripped the edge of Roxas's sleeve. "I'm Xion, uh, sir, and my friend is Roxas. We, we come from a-a country very far from here because we heard that you were, um, besieged by the Heartless. The monster that attacked us earlier, sir." She shrank back now that she had nothing left to say. The strange people intimated her like Xemnas once had.

"Heartless?" asked another, a woman. "So the place you come from has heard of these monstrosities, have you?"

"Yes," Roxas spoke up, feeling strange. "We also have a way of hunting them. If you've tried to fight them before, you should have noticed that they really won't go away when killed. Only me and Xion, and a few others, have a way of beating them so they stay down. Otherwise they'll just keep coming back to haunt you." He couldn't tell what exactly he was feeling, but remembered the feeling from when he had stood up the Xemnas and Saix about hunting Xion. Maybe he was feeling rebellious, or…

"So you two decided to leave your homes and come here to hunt these so-called 'Heartless'." The speaker was younger than any of the others except for than Minato. He had a cold gaze as he looked over the teens. And, as Roxas noticed when he stared back at the man, no pupils.

"Well, yeah. A little while ago that was our…job, I guess. If you want to call it that. Lately we haven't really been doing much because our friends had this huge argument and this huge fight and pretty much ripped everything up back home. So we decided, why not head out away from all that madness. Let's go back to doing our regular job in another land plagued by the bothersome Heartless. We could help some others and stay away from the fighting at the same time." Roxas was surprised at how easily he lied about his and Xion's reason for coming here. He was also glad he spent so much time around King Mickey and Zexion; their way of speaking rubbed off on him and came in handy during situations like this.

The council members exchanged looks with one another. "So what exactly are you planning to do during your stay in Konoha?" Minato asked. Several other members fidgeted in their seats and a few even glared at the blond.

"Hokage-sama, these children should not be allowed to stay in the village!" one member protested.

"Why not? They could get rid of our Heartless problem for us," another old woman said.

"No! We cannot be allowed to indebt ourselves to other Shinobi from foreign lands!" interjected the pale-eyed man from earlier.

"Um…we aren't Shinobi or whatever," Roxas spoke up. "Xion and I, we're just Keyblade wielders. And you won't be, uh, what did you say?...indebted to us. We go around getting rid of the Heartless for, well, fun, and to help keep our friends safe. Keep everyone safe. And besides, we're like the only ones who can get rid of the Heartless for good. We want to get rid of them. So, um, if you don't mind we'll just stay with Kushina and go hunt Heartless wherever they may appear. I mean, if it's all right with you guys. We don't want to cause trouble, honest."

"But how long will you stay?" asked the person who spoke first. Xion tugged on Roxas's sleeve and asked him the same thing in a whisper. They conferred quietly for a minute before turning back to the council.

"Until most of the Heartless are gone, our friends come get us for whatever reason, or until you tell us to leave. That's how it went in other, um, lands we visited with Heartless problems." Xion elbowed Roxas just as he was about to say worlds. She hoped the council hadn't noticed.

"Well, I don't see a problem with that. I think, at the most, all we have to do is give these two a place to stay. They'll get rid of the Heartless for us and the village can finally resume its normal activities." Minato looked around the table, glancing at each member. Some nodded, some looked resigned, and only five objected out loud.

"Hokage-sama, we cannot-"

"The very idea will ruin us!"

"I think it's a fine idea."

"But they will-"

"What about our Genin and Chunin?"

"Maybe they'll learn a thing or two from our new Heartless hunters."

"How can you-"

"I don't see the problem. They'll be staying with me and will be supervised at all times, even when they are fighting. If someone doesn't like them then they can just stay away. It's not like they're going to hunt down every person in the village and talk to them. Right?" Minato looked towards the teens.

"Uh, no, we'll be good," Xion stuttered.

"See? Problem solved. Meeting over. You all are dismissed." Minato stood and gave a small bow before disappearing from his seat and reappearing next to Xion and Roxas in a yellow flash. Placing a hand on each of their shoulders, he nearly shoved the two out of the meeting room. Kushina jumped forward as the doors slammed closed, closely followed by Mikoto, Rin, and Kakashi.

"My! All of you waiting just to see me. What a surprise," Minato joked as he passed the teens over to Mikoto. "No, Kushina, don't give me that look. I may not have been Hokage for very long yet but I do know how to handle the council members and their outrageous ideas and plans."

Kushina hugged her husband before demanding, "So what are we going to do about these two?" She waved her arm at Xion and Roxas. Minato shrugged.

"I told the council that I'd keep them. They said all they really were going to do was hunt Heartless. And as soon as that's over, they'll be gone."

"No way," Rin whined. "Stay longer please. Nowadays we hardly ever get to meet outsiders that aren't cold Shinobi. I want to get to know you two." Xion blushed slightly as Kakashi snorted and rolled his eyes. Roxas scowled at the other boy. Mikoto shook her head at the four teens.

"Well, since they won't be here long, why don't they explore the town today with Rin and Kakashi? It'll help them get their bearings." Mikoto smiled at her friend and her husband. "I'll watch them if you want. Maybe they can even come over and meet Fugaku at the compound. He'll love to meet them."

"More like he just wants to show off Itachi to any stranger in the village," Kushina muttered.

"Hey, that would be great. I need to go hunt down Jiraiya anyway. Apparently Orochimaru is still being a pain in the ass and hiding out somewhere in the Land of Rice. The council wants to hunt him down and get him back here before he can do anything against the village. Too late I say, after what happened to Anko, but we'll try." Minato grinned at everyone. Kushina rolled her eyes and Mikoto laughed quietly while the four teens just stared at the grown-ups.

"Isn't Orochimaru gay?" Kakashi asked just as Roxas was about to ask who was Jiraiya and Orochimaru.

"What's gay?" Now everyone went from staring at Kakashi to staring at Roxas. "What? I don't know."

Kushina rubbed her temple. Mikoto turned her face away so they couldn't see her laugh. Minato opened his mouth to say something when Rin beat him to it. "It means that you like boys and not girls."

"Then Roxas is gay because he likes Riku and Axel."

"Uh, no, Xion. Um, it doesn't mean like as in friends. It means like, um…" Kushina turned to Mikoto for help. "Mikoto! You're the one who trained as a medic Nin! Help me!"

Mikoto turned back to the group, calm. "Roxas, Xion, haven't you heard of love?" Both nodded. "It means that you love a boy the way…Kushina loves Minato. Though it'll take hell freezing over for her to admit it out loud in front of others."

"Oh," Roxas said. "I don't get it."

Kushina face-palmed. Minato decided to step in. "Roxas, how about you ask your friends the next time you see them, okay?"

"Okay. We'll ask Zexion. He knows just about everything, for a No-bmff." Roxas covered Xion's mouth before she could say 'Nobody'. He got the feeling that the less they said about themselves and their friends, the better.

"Hmm. You two do that. Now, who wants to go exploring?" Mikoto asked. Xion, Rin, and Roxas grinned like idiots while Kakashi muttered 'how did I get pulled into this'. "Good. Let's get going then!"

* * *

EDIT: Yeah, I know I said Monday but this is the first time in a week my Internet has been working. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get on again so I decided to post this up now. I was hoping to get at least two more chapters up.

Don't look for new chapters for about four or five days. Sorry! I'll try my best to post the fifth chap at school on Monday. It's half-way finished. Again, so sorry about this.

Hmm. I think the crashing of my Internet was a New Year's gift from Personal Guard 2009...


	6. Chapter 5

'Exploring' turned out to be Mikoto dragged around Konoha while Rin showed Roxas and Xion all the sights. Kakashi was pulled along as well, by Rin herself, and walked behind the three with Mikoto. They didn't seem to care that he was glaring at them; Xion and Roxas were gaping at everything in the village.

"What's that?"

"Hokage Mountain. Every Hokage that has ruled over the village since it was founded has their face carved into the rock for all to see."

"Can I buy one of those?"

"No, Roxas, I'm pretty sure I remember Kushina saying that you couldn't just grab anything you wanted."

"But it…oh fine. Can I get Xion a kimono then?"

"Ooh, let me help pick one! Here, Xion, I know where we can get a kimono that would fit you perfectly!"

"Rin, they're here to fight Heartless, not go shopping for clothes."

"Oh Kakashi! Why do you have to be such a downer?"

"Why do you have to be so damn hyper?"

"Enough you two. How about we get some lunch now?"

"Yeah! Can we take them to the ramen stand?"

"What's ramen?"

"You'll see."

Five minutes later Roxas, Xion, Rin, Kakashi and Mikoto were seated at Ichiraku Ramen waiting to order. Rin got the two Heartless hunters a bowl of plain ramen while Mikoto ordered pork ramen and Kakashi refused to even get any. Mikoto just shook her head as Rin tried to get him to order some and he just sat there, silently glaring at the girl. Roxas didn't pay attention as the bowls were placed neatly in front of the group. He and Xion had some problems with the chopsticks while Rin tried to teach them how to hold the wooden sticks properly. As soon as they figured the chopsticks out, both teens slurped down the ramen.

"This…is…ramen…"

"Roxas you're drooling."

"Can I take some home with me?"

"No, Kushina can cook and hates how Minato always used to go out for ramen."

"No, he means home, back to our friends."

"Are you planning to leave so soon?"

"Nah, just asking." Roxas sat back and looked around the little stand. In his excitement he had forgotten everything he had learned when he was in the Organization: always pay attention to your surroundings, look for little details, know who is around you, and never trust anyone you see. They might just try to kill you. And Roxas had been just running around, staring at the village. Someone could have seen him and decided to kidnap him later or something! He really needed to be more careful. So when Rin led them away from the stand, he suggested that they explore the forest that took up half of the village.

"The training grounds? Why do you want to go there? Do you want to fight some Shinobi with your Keyblade and see who's stronger or something?" Kakashi asked suspiciously. Which made Roxas want to go there even more. Someone was following them, and the other boy had sensed it. Roxas wanted to bring that person out in the open and fight them head on instead of being jumped when he least expected it.

"Training grounds?" He did his best to sound surprised and innocent. Xion saw right through him. "I thought it was just, like, a forest. I wanted to go run around in it, see if I still have all my old reflexes."

"Oh yeah!" Xion smiled. "I remember. Wasn't it Xigbar who taught us how to dodge flying projectiles while standing still and running around at top speed?"

"I'm not going to ask," Kakashi muttered. Mikoto suddenly grinned at him, making Kakashi feel even more suspicious.

"Oh, what can one trip into the forest do? It's not like they're about to run away and burn down the village. Come on, let's get going. Training grounds are this way." Mikoto waved down a street and led the teens to the forest. As she went along, she explained how to become a Shinobi and the ranks. "See, there are about five training grounds total in the village that are open to everyone. The forest is two because it has a desert part a ways into it, the Genin training grounds just for them to meet and fight each other at, and the Academy training grounds meant for students training to be Shinobi."

"That's only four training areas, Mikoto."

"Is it? Oh yes, there is the ANBU training grounds, but no one except the ANBU themselves and old members know where it is. Don't you two dare try and look for it; they will most likely kill you if you get too close."

"We'll…remember that. What if we're hunting Heartless and we just so happen to pass by real close?"

"Uh…then you better hope Minato can get you out of there quick. Hmm, the ranks. Lowest is in-training, followed by Genin. They take on the easiest missions, D-rank and occasionally a C-rank. If they can pass the Chunin exams, they pass up into the next rank. Chunin can lead a squad of Genin on C, B, and almost never A-rank missions. The A and S-rank missions are saved mostly for the Jonin, which is the highest most regular village trainees can hope to reach, and the ANBU. They are the ultimate fighting force of the village and are charged with gathering important information about our strongest enemies, protecting the village, and protecting the Hokage. Ah, here we are. The forest."

Mikoto swept her arm out at the green expanse in front of the now-silent group. Xion watched a bird fly up and away as someone yelled. She could just barely make out thuds of weapons hitting wood and people talking beneath the rustling of the trees. Roxas didn't pay much attention to the forest; instead he was gazing to the side, at a bridge over a small river. He watched the trees at the other end of the bridge, squinting. Yes, there was something squirming in those bushes. Something small, and black…

"Heartless!" he yelled right before spinning to the side and whipping out his Keyblade. Before the Heartless hiding behind them could even think, it was sliced in half by Oblivion. Xion shot away from Roxas, pulling out her own weapon. The three Shinobi all started to pull out weapons of their own, metal glinting in the sunlight, but Roxas knocked Kakashi's shuriken away. "No! Remember, one touch and they could suck your hearts right out of you! Back up and just watch us work!"

"Roxas, don't be a fool!" Rin cried. But Xion and Roxas just flashed identical grins.

"We aren't fools. This is what we do for a living!" they chorused at the same time while dispatching small Heartless with ease.

"Xion!"

"Roxas, left!" Xion ran down the length of the bridge and jumped onto the railing. Balancing carefully, she began raining down magic onto the unsuspecting Heartless hiding near her. Roxas had flown up in a tree to his left and fell back down with a person-sized Heartless struggling in his arms.

"Noooo!" it cried in an unearthly voice. Mikoto and Rin both covered their ears at the sound. "Let me…release me!"

"No way. You're a Nobody, aren't you? Almost human but still too much Dusk." Roxas threw it to the side and stood up, retrieving his Keyblade from where it had fallen near the tree. "You have no clue how good you have it. Still have some memory cause you can talk, but wouldn't you rather just forget it all and just be mindless? You wouldn't be in such torment then. Just running around mindlessly collecting hearts and annoying us."

"Mind…less? How would you…know what it is like…to know nothing?" The Dusk had trouble forming words. Already Roxas could see the human part of the despicable creature dissolving.

"Yeah, wouldn't you know it? I have known nothing, lived on nothing. Mindless? One of my old friends used to call me a zombie." Roxas stabbed Oblivion into the ground near the Dusk. It recoiled away as he knelt down in front of it. "For me, since I was all human, that was torture. For you, it won't matter because once you lose thought, you never gain it back and so never can think about losing it."

"But…that would make…not…"

"You'll still be alive. Just as a non-thinking Dusk."

"I need…to tell…"

Roxas sat back, surprised. So that was why this Dusk could still speak and think. It had a message it needed to tell someone. Most likely an old friend. "What's the message, buddy? I promise I'll find them and pass the message. No worries."

"Tell…Roxas…Axel still…wants to be…your friend."

Roxas almost fell over. "Ax-Axel said that? Are you…you're Lea's…no, because Axel is…" He was confused, more so than ever before. How had this Nobody gotten hold of a message bound for him from Axel? How did it talk to…

_He's found no way in or out, except death._

Somehow, for some reason, people themselves couldn't leave that world. But maybe, just maybe… "How did you get this message? Did Axel tell you himself?"

The Dusk paid no attention and continued with the message. "Sorry…about lying…not sure if…you would stay…if you knew…just wanted to…protect you and…stay by your side." With a shuddering breath, the Dusk fell silent, eyes glazed over as they stared unseeingly into the treetops. Roxas carefully sat it up against a tree, sensing just a thread of life still in it. He had to try.

"How did you get this message? Who told you this?"

"The...red…" No more came. The Dusk was silent once and for all. Roxas bowed his head, guessing at what it had just been about to say. _The red-head told me. _He shook his head, unfeeling, and noticed the edges of the Dusk disappearing. So Heartless and Dusk Nobodies could get in and out, but would die soon after leaving. But they could still pass through the barrier protecting the world that held the people he wanted to see most at the moment. Or did he? It seemed that every time Roxas thought of Axel, he felt something different. Sometimes he was murderously angry; other times just sad and confused. And now, he was unfeeling because of what he had just been told; Roxas had no clue how to feel. What should he do: one of the people he trusted most betrayed him, but did it to protect him-and still wants to be Roxas' friend?

"Forget it," he muttered darkly. Times like this, the only way to get rid of all these confused thoughts was to lose himself in doing something else: hunt Heartless. With one last look at the fading Dusk, Roxas stood up and brushed h the dust off his clothes. He felt the Heartless behind him, but pretended to pay no attention and instead picked up his Keyblade. Just as the Heartless decided to take a swing at the unattentive boy, he wasn't there. He was behind the Heartless, and it was gone. Roxas shook himself free of the floating bits of darkness and ran down the dirt track, back to the others.

_At times like this, it seems that I can barely keep my mind working. It reminds me of the first week I was part of the Organization…_

* * *

-------------------_----------------_----------------_--------------_---------------_-----------_

"Where're Roxas and Xion?" Sora asked Zexion, looking over the man's shoulder. He nudged the brunette with his elbow and stood up. Closing the book he was holding, Zexion turned to give the impatient boy a raised brow.

"And why are you so interested in where they are, Sora?" he asked calmly. Considering how badly he was shaking inside, Zexion was amazed he could even appear to be calm. He fervently hoped the boy kicking sand over shells that littered the beach near them hadn't seen the letter tucked between two pages of Ven's journal. It was the latest one from Inezo, and to be completely honest, Zexion was terrified. Arton was bad enough, but _him?_ If he got loose again they all would be dead, no questions asked.

"Well, it's been almost a week and they still haven't come back yet." The brunette stared at the waves, obviously caught up in his own thoughts. Zexion sighed and ran a hand through his hair. No, the boy hadn't seen the letter. That was good.

"Sora, remember that in other worlds, time runs differently. For them, it might have been only a few hours, but here it has been days. Don't worry, they'll come back eventually. Now, I'm off to see King Mickey."

"Alright," Sora replied, already interested in something else. "Hey! Riku, come over here! See you Zexion," he added hastily Zexion stepped through his portal. The man smiled in response; though that smile dropped when he could no longer see the islands.

_This is bad. Worse than bad. We are screwed if we can't figure out how in the hell _he _was stopped last time._

King Mickey looked up as Zexion stepped out of the portal. He closed it as the mouse quickly reached over and closed the window, sensing that the former Organization member wasn't here just to say hi.

"Zexion, did Inezo send another letter?" From the look on Zexion's face, Mickey guessed that he was correct. "May I see it?"

Wordlessly he handed it over, then collapsed into a nearby chair. Mickey gave him a worried look before turning to the letter. He unfolded it and scanned the contents.

_Zexion,_

_Things have turned for the worse. Not only has Arton left that world, he has somehow learned how to make portals and travel to other worlds. And if he weren't bad enough to face on his own, we've got to deal with his apprentice. Two Erzo blades against our only hope of breaking free from this damn world…this is going to end up worse than the last time_

_Arton is heading for the Hills of Memory. And we all know who is sealed there. _Him._ The one who most likely killed everyone, including Ven and his friends. You've seen the signs, as well as myself before I ended up here, that he had escaped recently. Not a full leave, but enough to suck a few hearts out of existence. And he may very well be the reason we all feel like we're forgetting something important._

_Zexion, you must stop Arton from reaching the Hills before it's too late._

It was like any other letter; short and to the point. But this one was in many ways not like the others. For with it came a new fear, the kind that ate away at your hope, your beliefs, and your life. The kind of fear that had forever been associated with only one being

_Nimor._

* * *

_Xion,_

_Today wasn't so great. This is the first world we've been to that we've come into contact with the people who live here. Now I know why we shouldn't do that. But I kinda think we have to because otherwise they might try to kill us, like yesterday. Speaking of which, I couldn't write then because I was tired and hurt. I didn't feel like writing anyway, last night. Now I have to because I don't want to think._

_Anyway, today me and Xion explore the village we woke up in. Yesterday Minato had rescued us from a horde of Heartless and took us to his village, Konoha. But before we could go look around, the council that controls the village wanted to speak with us. Minato is actually the leader of the council-the guy who teases Kushina, his wife, for fun and acts like a kid! I think it's safe for us to stay here and hunt Heartless, at least until they're all gone. I wonder what attracts them to this world, and this village in particular. Xion's asking Kushina right now if there's anything in this village that carries strong feelings. I don't think Kushina understands. We didn't expect her to._

_So today we went looking around, me and Xion and Kushina's friend Mikoto and two Genin, Rin and Kakashi. I don't think Kakashi likes me, though Rin is pretty nice. But they both seem really sad, somehow. Like they're missing a person-that there should be three, not two. But that could be just me, since Xion, Axel, and I were a trio together._

_Axel…_

_We went around the village and someone was following us, so I suggested we go out to the forest. I never did find out who that was, but we did find Heartless-quite a few of them. And a Dusk as well, a Dusk that could speak and slightly remember its past. It had a message to pass on, from Axel to Roxas. It said…well, it said a lot of things. But the most important…_

_Axel, you sent this Dusk to find me. Do you really still care that much for me? Do you really want to be a trio again, after everything?_

_Ugh. I'm tired of thinking, and I'm just plain tired. I'm going to bed, but not before I say this:_

_Axel, I promise, I __**swear**__, someday I will find you again. And we will talk._

_And maybe…we can be friends, all three of us, again._

_Roxas_

* * *

A/n: Apparently school computers hate this website. It wouldn't let me in. And on top of that, I got major writer's block half-way through the chapter. So it's not as long as I wanted it to be. Sorry! And sorry it's so late too.

EDIT: NobodyXIV: Is he OOC? I read Kakashi Gaiden and saw other flashbacks during what I read of the Shippuuden manga. Kakashi did seem a little...quiet and moody. This is after Obito died, by the way. I made him a little sad because of that. He'll change some, thoug, before Roxas and Xion leave.


	7. Announcment

AUTHOR'S VERY IMPORTANT NOTE!!!

Man, I wish I could put that in super big letters.

ANYWAY, I am sad to tell my readers that I have to forcefully place this story on Hiatus for about a month. Why? Long story short: my sis did something horrible and I'm blamed for it. Two-and-a-half weeks of grounding, plus I have at least one, most likely three or four, projects for school due in two weeks/four weeks. Then right after I'm off grounding and down with projects I have to take unit test in four, maybe all six, classes.

ARGARGARGARGARG I hate school and I hate my parents!! But I wanted to say sorry to my readers. No more chapters for a while. The grounding starts tommorrow thank goodness, so I'll work on the next chapter and try to finish it so I can just upload it the second my punishment is up.

Again, so sorry! If it's any consolence, I will kill my sister. Not really, but anyone with siblings gets the point. You know how it feels when you just want to...off them. Lol-off myself. Twilight the movie was stupid-to me at least and a great deal of my friends-but the books were really cool. I read them two, three years ago, when hardly anyone knew about them. The only reason New Moon was so popular was because there's a bunch of half-naked men running around. Hot, but stupid. Whatever.

Good-bye readers! See you in a few weeks (UUUUUUGGGHHH)


	8. Chapter 6

Xion lay on the bed, looking at the ceiling, memorizing all the cracks and lines running through it. She did that a lot, when she was alone, just stare off into space. Roxas did that too, she realized. When he had something he wanted to say, but couldn't get it to come out. He must've gotten that from Zexion or Lexaeus; both of them did it a lot back then, when the Organization was still whole. Not broken; whole. Heh; and now she smiled to herself. That was how Saix and Xemnas liked to describe her-broken-but she wasn't. She was human, she was alive, and she was growing a heart.

_How do you do that?_

Sometimes Zexion's theories didn't make sense, but he was almost never wrong about the results. The only times he had been wrong had involved Roxas and once Axel in his plans. And no one knew what those two would do next. Xion bet that even Roxas had no clue as to what he would do next. Riku was right-Roxas was clueless, and Xion was too, but Roxas was definitely the stranger one. He liked to ask questions, he liked to question the world around him, and he loved to jump head-first into anything.

_But I wouldn't trade him for anything. Not even for giving up those memories._

Looking over, Xion watched Roxas scribble away in his journal. He had shown it to her when she had come back. When Xion read it…she never thought she could cry, not even if she did grow a heart or whatever, but Roxas' journal just broke her heart. She could relate to that want, that need, because she had felt it once, leaving the Organization with Riku to let herself be absorbed into Sora. She had wanted so badly to not do it, to stay with Axel and Roxas, but it had to be done, and all she could do was long for the old days. The days of careless friendship, of ice cream, of shared memories.

_I wonder…what will we do once Axel comes back? Be an Organization again? Or…_

Roxas glanced up, feeling eyes watching him, and smiled at Xion. He wrote down one last thing, then slid the small book into the pack at the foot of his bed. Following his example, Xion slipped under the covers of the bed Kushina had let them sleep in. Even in the darkness of the room, with curtains covering the only window and the light put out, Xion could see Roxas watch her still, blue eyes shining in the darkness.

_It's always been like this-we can always tell where the other is. We can see each other no matter what separates us._

"Good-night, Xion," Roxas whispered softly.

"Good night, Roxas." Xion thought that, just for a moment, she could see the words hang in mid-air, glowing softly. Then the illusion passed, leaving Xion and Roxas alone in the darkness. Apart, yet right beside each other.

_Is it weird? Is it strange?...Not for us. Never. It's like…it was meant to be this way._

…

_What way?_

* * *

_What way?_

_Hey, I'm talking to you!_

"What way, Xion?"

Xion jumped. She looked around wildly, then laughed at herself. Of course-she really needed to stop daydreaming. "Oh, sorry, Aqua. I've been looking off into space. It seems like no matter how hard I try, I can't stop daydreaming."

Aqua pursued her lips, then lay back in the grass. "Geez, and to think we're cousins. I can't believe we are related. But anyway, what were you saying before? Something about a way…?"

"Huh? Yeah…" Xion sat up tilting her head back to look at the passing clouds. "Oooh, it's going to rain soon. We really should get back to the Academy."

"Stop changing the subject, Xion. What way?"

"Aqua! Leave me alone!" Xion fell back again, giggling. "Alright, so remember when I first came here, and got lost trying to find the girls' dorm? Well, I met someone on the way. A boy, with blondish hair and these bright blue eyes. Like, so bright, and he had this look about him, like he was carrying a world on his shoulders."

"Oh, but that happens all the time. A kid comes in from a world where they're the only one ever to go to the Academy. They feel like they have to hurry up and study, so they can get back home and protect the people there from 'untold horrors'."

"No, but really, Aqua! He really looked like he had to carry around this huge…um, legacy! Yeah, his very own legacy-he had to carry it around all the time and he was so, so tired of it. So I decided to ask him for directions and we both ended up getting lost. But then his master showed up-oh, Aqua, it was Master Bivora! So that must mean that the boy I met was Roxas!"

"No way!" Aqua squealed. "No way! I heard he was, like, the youngest Keyblade wielder ever. And he's from the di Tortilonis family too! They hold the record for the youngest and strongest magic and weapon wielders. But wow, a Keyblade wielder, and he found when he was _eight_? Xion, you are the luckiest girl in the world."

Xion laughed with her cousin, and ran with her back to the shelter of the Academy when the rain stared falling. She had never really answered Aqua's question either, now that she thought about it. That was good, since Xion didn't know what way she had been wondering about during her daydream. Oh, wait, yes she did-how could Roxas, youngest Keyblade wielder ever in the history of Keyblade wielders, heck he was even the youngest person to attend the Academy because he had a gift, be so…happy? All the other little children were orphans taken in out of pity, or because they had potential in them. Most of the time that potential came later, much later. But Roxas…he must have all alone, Xion realized. He had no one to lean on, no one to help him through his problems. Yeah, he had a twin, but Ventus was so far away, and he didn't join the Academy until he was twelve, same as Xion herself.

And yet he was still so…kind, Xion decided, and upbeat, honest, and just-just…Xion couldn't find a word that could describe Roxas. The way he looked at a person, the way he talked, as if he knew that someone would listen because he wouldn't talk to them otherwise, the way he simply _was…_Xion had never met anyone like him, and most likely never would find another like Roxas. The way he had first appeared to her, like he was carrying a huge burden that only he could carry. And from he had told her, Xion realized that only he could carry that prophecy.

"Xion," Roxas had said, blue eyes meeting hers easily. "One of the new students. You're lucky I'm looking for my brother-he was supposed to come today-and found you wandering about. I can remember what it's like, traversing around this place for the first time. Bit confusing, isn't it? But don't worry; I'll get you to the girls' dorms."

Xion had smiled back, not knowing who this boy was, but reacting to his kindness. He had smiled back and led her through the hallways, empty of everyone but them. As they passed underneath an archway leading outside, he had stopped suddenly and turned to her.

"You can feel it, can't you? The way you keep looking at me, I know you do." His face was blank, yet sad. Xion immediately denied knowing anything, but Roxas just smiled again. "Nah, I know that look. It's the same one Master gave me whenever I keep a secret from him and he knows it. Yeah," and he turned away then, looking at the gathering clouds. "Yeah, I'm carrying something. Knowledge is so heavy, especially when it concerns yourself."

Xion had asked what he meant. Roxas shook his head. "I'll tell you, but on one condition: you can't tell anyone. And I mean no one. Promise?" Xion looked at his outstretched hand and thought about how bad that knowledge must be, if you can't tell anyone about it. She considered it, then reached out and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"Promise."

* * *

"_Promise."_

"Xion?" Roxas stood above her, one hand on her shoulder. He had been shaking her, Xion realized as she sat up and swatted his hand away.

"I'm fine. Just…" She trailed off, not knowing how to explain her dream. Which she suddenly didn't remember. "Um…"

"Weird dreams? Don't worry, I get them all the time." Roxas smiled and threw a pile of clothes on Xion's lap. "Someone left those on your bed last night. It's our old clothes that were torn up-someone must've fixed them for us. They were a mess, before." He pulled on his jacket, completely mended.

"Oh, we should say thanks." Xion shook the clothes out. Roxas turned around and stared at the wall as she changed. "Wonder how they did that. I believe they were quite literary rags after that fight. Whatever. How'd you guess I was having a weird dream? Can you remember yours?"

"No, that's the thing. I saw your face, though, and from my experience I guessed. My advice is to forget them because the more you try to remember the more you forget."

"Poetic," Xion remarked as she leaned on Roxas' shoulder, grinning. "Wanna see if there's anything to eat?" As the words left her mouth someone banged on the door.

"Hey! You two up?" Minato's voice floated in through the cracks. "Breakfast is ready, if you're up and dressed. Kushina helped fix those clothes, by the way. She kinda remade them since the ones you had were busted up badly. Are they good?"

"Fine, and thank you!" Roxas and Xion chorused at the same time. "We're coming!"

"So what are you two planning to do today?" Kushina asked as the teens followed Minato into the kitchen. "I would think that after yesterday you would have had enough of Heartless, but I've been wrong before."

Xion and Roxas smiled at each other and Kushina as they sat down. "Like we said before," Xion began. "Hunting Heartless is our job."

"Our life, almost. So yeah, if you don't mind, we're going to go track down the rest of the Heartless in this world," Roxas finished. Kushina shook her head and Minato grinned.

"Ah, dear, don't look like that. I'll watch them today; council practically ordered me to do so after the incident in the forest, as they call it, when Roxas and Xion went after the Heartless there." The blond kissed the top of Kushina's head. Xion watched them with her head cocked to one side. Roxas looked at Xion, looked at the adults, and turned back to his food. He nudged her after Xion didn't look away. She reluctantly returned to her food as well, but not before asking Roxas in a whisper "What was that?" He shrugged.

"Maybe you need a complete heart to understand," he whispered back. Xion frowned, thinking, then nodded.

"Yeah…" They both ate their food quickly, wanting to find the Heartless before they came after the pair again.

"Okay!" Minato clapped his hands. The two teens looked up at him. "So yesterday you went exploring in the forest and killed some Heartless. Do you want to go back there, or just prowl around the village and see what you can find?"

Roxas pushed his empty plate away. "Just walk around, for the moment. We just want to, at this time, to find out what is causing the Heartless to attack the village as they have been. There is always a trigger for them to suddenly all bunch together when Heartless are usually solitary creatures."

Xion nodded in agreement. "It would also help to go back to where we fought yesterday. I believe there was something following us that wasn't killed, right Roxas?" The boy nodded. "You felt it too then. And there's the issue of that Dusk."

"Oh, that's been solved already," Roxas muttered, looking away. Kushina raised her eyebrow, but said nothing. "But would be good though to find out where it cam from and how it got here. And how it knew to find us."

"Right. Dusk are smart, but not that smart. Pulling little pranks, fighting, those things are easy enough for them to do. But to track someone through several worlds, that's unusual. We need to find out who was controlling that Dusk." Roxas nodded while Minato and Kushina looked completely confused.

"Alright then," Minato said after a few moments. "We'll go walk around and try to track down some Heartless. Sounds like a plan." He rubbed his hands together, grinning. The red head rolled her eyes. Xion smiled at Roxas and ran back to their room to grab their bags. Roxas stood up and stretched as Minato suddenly disappeared in a yellow flash. Two seconds later he reappeared, holding in his hands a slip of paper.

"Take this." He handed the slip to Roxas. "If you and Xion get separated from me I can use that to immediately Hirashin to where you are. I doubt that such a need will arise, but keep it just to be on the safe side." The boy nodded and tucked it into one of his pockets. Xion came back in, holding their packs, and gave Roxas his. They slipped them on while Minato gave Kushina one final kiss. With a "Good-bye!" over his shoulder, Minato led the teens out onto the streets of Konoha.

They were much busier than they had been yesterday. All kinds of people, young and old and tall and short, lined the streets. Some had on headbands that had the same symbol of a leaf carved onto a metal plate while others had different designs. Roxas glimpsed several animal masks hiding the faces of Shinobi in all dark clothing. Swords, little metal stars, knifes, all types of weapons carried by Shinobi were seen by Xion and Roxas. They stared as much as they had the day before, only this time they made sure to be aware of everything around them. Buildings, small animals, piles of trash, young kids dashing back and forth, even the clouds overhead were watched. Nothing escaped the two Keyblade wielders' vision this time.

At last they reached the point in the forest they had fought in the day before. Minato stood back as Xion and Roxas quietly conferred for a few moments. With a nod, they separated and began walking down the dirt path, each going in a different direction. Xion went towards the bridge and Roxas went back towards the trees where the Dusk had been. They scouted around their areas, searching for what Minato had no clue. But it was fun to watch them work together; it was like they could read the other's mind and knew exactly what to do or say. Interesting, to say the least Minato thought.

"Hey, Xion!" Roxas waved his hand, motioning for the girl to come over. She ran over, followed by the blond Hokage. "Can you feel it? That energy…what does it remind you of?" Xion closed her eyes and stood stock still. Minato did as well, and tried to sense what the boy had felt. He could feel nothing particularly strange.

"Oooh, that's so weird." Xion swayed back and forth. "What is that? Maybe…that's what attracting the Heartless, do you think?"

"I'd bet on it," Roxas replied grimly. He stood up and brushed the dirt from his clothes. "And it seems that the Heartless won't give up their power source so easily. Can you believe it, it feels like they're actually drawing energy from the thing instead of just absorbing it all at once. That has to be the work of the two Zexion warned us about. Who were they, Arton and…Gilfur?"

"Yeah, I think that it might be them. Remember Zexion's warnings, Roxas. We don't want to die now, do we?"

"Nah, we got other things to do. First things first, though, we get rid of most or all of this world's Heartless." Roxas and Xion nodded. They then turned to Minato. "Minato, is there anything important over there?" Roxas asked, waving his hand beyond the bridge.

"Yeah, the memorial stone. We engrave the names of Shinobi from this village that died in the line of work," Minato answered uneasily.

"Thanks. Mind if we take a look around it? It may be what is attracting the Heartless." At Roxas' statement Minato felt even more uneasy.

"All…right, if it'll help get rid of the Heartless problem," the blond replied after a moment. The teens grinned at him.

"Don't worry-we won't do anything bad," Xion promised. Minato could only shrug in response, a cold dread settling into his heart.

Roxas led the way, Xion walking next to him and the silent Hokage behind them. Taking a quick look backwards, Roxas noticed Minato watching the scenery, and grabbed the chance to lean over and whisper something in Xion's ear. Minato caught the tail end of the motion, but didn't catch what had been said. The words echoed in Xion's head, however.

"_Xion, I think that the Heartless have got a tight hold on most of the people's hearts here. If we kill them, what will happen to the people here?"_

_

* * *

A/N: _I would have had this up yesterday but noooo, had to be running a maintenance scan. Ugh.

Oh well. Free from ground-at last!! New chap for you all.

NobodyXV: I looked it up and I found that it never really said when Rin died. I just had assumed she died when Kyuubi attacked the village.


	9. Chapter 7

Minato trailed behind Roxas and Xion s they headed for the memorial stone. As they got closer both teens could sense the reluctance growing stronger in the blond following them. Exchanging worried glancing, Xion suggested Minato go home since he didn't seem to be feeling well. He replied that he would see this 'mission' of theirs through, because after all it was for the good of the village and he wanted the best for his people.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine," he said, trying to smile reassuringly. Neither teen was fooled.

At last they could see the stone in the distance. Along with two people standing nearby, backs to the group. Roxas easily identified Kakashi, since the other boy had silver hair, but the other person was unidentifiable. They were dressed in all black and had light-dark purple hair, cut short. He guessed it was also a Shinobi since they appeared to be decked out in the basic gear: throwing star pouch strapped to leg, short sword on thigh, headband tied around the waist.

"Roxas." Xion pulled on the boy's sleeve, drawing him back into the shadows. Minato stayed where he was, rooted in the middle of the road. "What are we going to do? If we get rid of the Heartless it might end up killing most of these people!"

"I know!" Roxas whispered back. Already he knew that the Heartless knew that they were there; he could feel evil intent settle over the village like a cloud. He bet that everywhere in the village, people were frozen just like Minato and the other two by the stone. "But we need to get rid of them. How…"

"Call Zexion!" Xion suggested. "Remember how he is always sending those letters to us and the king and Inezo? We can do that too I bet!"

Roxas thought about it. "Yeah, but what are we gonna tell him? Heartless have overrun this world and are slowly killing the people in it?"

"No, we'll just say we need help. He'll probably assume we got into trouble and need help out of it."

"Which we have, now that I think about it." Roxas nodded. "Okay. Get the paper out of my bag and write a quick note. I'm going to move Minato and those other two so we don't accidently hurt them while fighting." Xion nodded, already searching through Roxas' pack. He slipped away from the shadows and carefully made his way to the blond frozen in the road.

Minato just stood there, not even flinching when Roxas poked him hard in the side. "Uh-oh. Minato, listen, you gotta move. Away from here. Hey, stop being a zombie." He pulled on the older man's arm to no avail. "Not fun. Come on, you have to move. Do you want to lose your heart? Wanna lose your memories and become nothing? Think of your village, and the people in it. Think of Kushina." The last statement seemed to wake up Minato slightly. He shook his head and looked around dopily. "Yeah, that's right. This way, come on, Minato." Roxas pulled him back, and the half-dazed blond followed slowly. He tugged Minato underneath the trees near Xion and sat him down.

"There. Stay." Roxas ran down the road and to the clearing of the memorial stone. The black clad figure had moved since he had last looked; they had turned around to look at the road. Roxas looked into emotionless brown eyes that watched his every move.

"What are you doing?" the girl asked. Roxas jumped when she talked; now that she had turned around he could see that the unknown Shinobi was a female. "Have you come here to mourn the spirits of the dead?...No, you would have no use for that, would you?" Roxas shivered at the sound of the girl's emotionless voice.

"Well, maybe later, after I'm done with my work here. I've lost a few friends, but I don't think I have ever found a place like this, where you can carve a friend's name into stone to remember for all eternity." He waved his hand towards the pillar. "But now I suggest that you and Kakashi get out of here, because I'm about to start a huge fight and it would be horrid if you got caught in the middle."

The girl looked to the side. "Hmm…alright. I'll go. Good luck moving Hatake there, though. He's been weird like this ever since Obito died. I'm Anko by the way." Anko waved and walked out of the clearing. As she passed Roxas, he noticed a black mark on her neck. She ignored his look and continued towards Minato. Xion ran past her as she met back up with Roxas again.

"Alright, I sent the letter. I don't know if Zexion'll get it on time, but we can hope." Xion glanced around the clearing. "We have to get Kakashi out of here. I'm afraid that if he stays much longer he'll lose his heart."

"I know, but Anko said that he's been like this ever since his friend died." Roxas shook his head. "Ok, move him first, think about Heartless problems later." He reached out and squeezed Xion's hand. Slowly they made their way to the boy, stepping silently over leaves and branches that littered the clearing. Both froze when Kakashi shifted to one side.

"What are you doing here?" the silver-haired boy asked. "Came to hunt the Heartless, did you?"

Roxas shivered. Something was not right with the other teen. He was…off, somehow. "Yeah, I came to get rid of the Heartless. And I don't want you getting hurt so I suggest that you leave the clearing immediately. Please."

Kakashi smirked cruelly, and that was when Roxas figured out that the teen in front of him wasn't Kakashi. "I don't think I'll leave just yet, boy. It's been so long since I've been free to roam about the worlds that I can't help but want to stir up a little trouble."

Roxas backed away. "You're one of the ones who escaped from that valley of whatnot."

"Yes." Kakashi/not Kakashi laughed. The sound rang through the trees. "My name is Gilfur. I am called Arton's apprentice, but that seems so demeaning. We both prefer to be called companions, or acquaintances. Now, I can see well enough that you wield that dratted Keyblade. Care to test it out on my Erzo blade?"

"No, Gilfur, that will be enough." Roxas looked behind him; Zexion stood there, dressed in his Organization clothes again. He cradled his spell book in one arm, the other hanging down by his side, seemingly harmless. But Roxas could see Zexion's fingers twitching almost randomly; the man was actually preparing a spell to be thrown instantly. "Leave Roxas alone. Your fight is against the old Masters, not a young apprentice who can barely cast magic."

"I can use magic!" Roxas protested. Kakashi/Gilfur and Zexion ignored him.

"So then where are they, Ienzo?" The silver haired imposter sneered at Zexion. "Hiding, are they? Too scared to face their folly of sealing Arton and myself away?"

"I'll have you know that I am not Ienzo, Gilfur. I am Zexion, his Nobody. And since you've been asleep for twenty years or so I will fill you in on past events. Inezo is gone, trapped in an inescapable world. And most of the Masters, Keyblade apprentices, Erzo blade wielders, and magic users are dead. There are very few alive, and mostly because they either were born after that massacre or were lucky enough to get skipped over since they were very young. The only Keyblade wielders left are Roxas, Xion, Sora, and Mickey." Zexion gestured behind himself, where Sora, Riku, and Xion stood watching. Roxas noticed with a shock that he was in the middle of the clearing and trapped inside with Gilfur and Zexion by a light black barrier surrounding the three.

"Nobody? Never of them before." Gilfur made a motion with his hands, and his guise fell away. In the middle of the clearing there now stood a tall, dark green-haired man. His pale green/gold eyes scanned the clearing and the woods surrounding it once then returned to the two Nobodies standing in front of him. "But no matter. You all will be gone soon enough."

"You may think we Nobodies are nothing," Zexion replied, stepping back, "but you are about to find out how wrong you are." He smirked suddenly and swept a hand at the barrier. It crumbled as Gilfur growled out a counter-spell that sent a wall of fire racing Zexion. He didn't say anything, just narrowed his eyes as a shield protected him from the flames. Before they had even burned themselves out Gilfur was charging, a pale golden sword held aloft. It clanged as it slammed down on top of a Keyblade.

Gilfur turned to the side just in time to get tackled and thrown from the other side. Roxas ducked and felt Gilfur fly over his back. "Nice throw Riku! Warn me next time?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Riku jumped back and summoned his Shadow blade. "Damn. He's heavy. Sora, Xion, be careful. He could easily kill one of us."

"Riku's right. Stay close together," Zexion advised. He stepped back, closer to the trees, and opened his book. "I'll be fighting his magic and spells, so you four attack him directly. Be warned-that Erzo blade can cut through the Keyblade. Try not to bash blades with him."

"Right." Sora and Xion came up beside Riku and Roxas. Gilfur groaned and slowly pushed himself up off the ground. He waved a hand at his blade; it flew right into his hand as he straightened.

"Well, that was a nuisance. Who did that-you?" He pointed at Riku. "You're dead. All of you are dead. Get ready for your funerals!" With a sweep of his blade, Gilfur charged again. He aimed this time for Roxas who jumped back and to the side without thinking. This allowed Gilfur to twist and slash at Riku.

Erzo and Shadow blade crashed together. Riku was the one to jump back, cursing. Xion ran off to the side, Sora close behind. Roxas suddenly found himself on the receiving end of a thrown blade and fell backwards trying to dodge it. His head smacked into the memorial pillar and he fell down with a muffled groan.

"Roxas!" Xion turned and used her momentum from running to slam into Gilfur. She reached out and tried to grab his blade but he threw her off. Zexion caught her in a magic web before she hit the ground. He laid her gently on the ground and concentrated on casting magic to stop Gilfur.

"You have to be careful! Gilfur fights like no one you've ever met before. Use caution!" he shouted at the group of teens. Each nodded or shrugged. Roxas stood up and shook his head. He picked up his Keyblade as Xion also stood. She moved across the clearing to stand right in front of Roxas on the other side of the clearing. Riku saw what she did and copied her, standing across from Sora. The four exchanged looks, then all prepared to spring forward. Roxas slid one foot back and raised Oblivion. Xion lifted Oathkeeper with both hands and slid forward a step. Riku pulled his arm back, aiming the tip at Gilfur. Sora bent almost double, Keyblades held out to the sides. Then, they charged.

Gilfur had watched them prepare to fight, silently laughing at their preparations. 'It won't matter what they do,' he thought. 'They'll all die anyway, no matter how hard they try!' He smirked and lifted his own blade as they charged on some unseen signal. Behind him Zexion mouthed strange words, desperately trying to protect the teens.

_What do they think they're doing?! They're going to get themselves killed!_

"Hyaah!"

"Grah!"

"Heeya!"

"Haaa!"

All four charged. Gilfur let out a maniacal laugh as he imagined how he would kill them. He swung at the nearest one, aiming to slice Roxas in half. Closer and closer the blade came, then-

"Ha! Fooled!" Roxas was behind him, swinging one of Sora's Keyblades up and crashing it down on Gilfur's shoulder. He grunted and fell to his knees. "Figured you out. You can't actually see us, can you? No, you can only sense our weapons and our power. I thought so; your eyes seemed filmed over like you couldn't see out of them. But now that we know your trick, how are you gonna tell who's who?"

Sora grinned as he sidestepped Gilfur's blade. He traded Oblivion with Riku, who had Sora's other Keyblade along with his Shadow blade. Oblivion then switched with Oathkeeper and Oathkeeper for Roxas' weapon.

"Damn you brats!" Gilfur shouted. "Switching weapons, smart, but I can still sense your powers! You know my tricks but I will easily crush yours!"

"Not so fast, Gilfur." Zexion raised his hand and pointed at Gilfur, palm down. "Try anything and I'll have you stuck in a prison of past tortures."

"No!" Gilfur hissed. "How did you-"

"I told you, I am Ienzo's Nobody. I don't know why or how you watched him from inside your prison before, but you should have some clue as to the spells he could cast. And now all those spells belong to me." He curled his fingers slightly, raised up his other hand and did the same. His book floated beside him as his fingers made a cage, fingertips barely touching each other. "Now, are we going to play nicely, or I am going to have to complete the spell?"

Gilfur bared his teeth at Zexion. He clenched his fist and the Erzo blade disappeared. "Fine, you win this time, damn Nobodies. But you will be seeing me again. Mark my words." Raising his arm, Gilfur yelled out a strange word. A cloud of red dust billowed up around him, and when it dispersed he was gone.

* * *

A/N: Sorry this chapter is a bit short, but I'm putting this story on temporary hiatus. I just can't write right now.

I've got too much crap to deal with at school and home, plus some old problems have come back to haunt me. Really shitty problems too, that just make life hell. Wish I could just kill my issues.

Hopefully I'll be writing again in about a month. I might put up another chapter before I'm good again, but don't get your hopes up.

AJ1ri: Crap, you're right. He does have one...hmm...hmm...oh well. I'll figure out how to fix that in my story later.

By the way, I'm going to go back in this story and change all the Inezos to Ienzo. Later. Sometime. Eventually.


	10. final

I am a horrible. Dear readers, I am abandoning my story.

But! I am giving it up for adoption. See my homepage for details.

Really sorry about this. But I just can't write it anymore.

Sigh...


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